Sculpted by Gary Casteel

1863 Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Monument Replicas
 
The 26th Wisconsin was commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg by Lieutenant Colonel Hans Boebel, a printer from Milwaukee who was wounded in the fighting on July 1, 1863.  Major Baetz had been wounded by this time, and Captain John W. Fuchs took command.
 
The regiment arrived on the battlefield in the early afternoon of July 1 and marched through Gettysburg to the plains north of town.  The 26th was on the right flank of the brigade, with a large gap between them and Barlow’s division to the east.
 
The brigade was heavily attacked from the front and was holding its own when Barlow’s division collapsed.  Suddenly, the 26th was hit from the flank by overwhelming numbers, and the brigade was forced to fall back to Gettysburg, which one member of the regiment later admitted was “not as orderly as it should have been.”  One soldier from the 26th Wisconsin said “the bullets came thick as hail” before the regiment retreated through Gettysburg on July 1.  “It seemed so awful to march back through those same streets whipped and beaten,” wrote another soldier.
 
The regiment’s loss of line officers was especially heavy. Four were killed, nine were wounded, and one was missing.
 
The monument is located on Howard Avenue and was dedicated on June 30, 1888.