6th Wisconsin at Gettysburg

The Sixth Wisconsin was a member of the Iron Brigade.  The Iron Brigade was a tough fighting brigade who earned their nickname at the battle of Antietam in September of 1862.  When the battle started in Gettysburg, one of the first brigades on the scene was the Iron Brigade. 

When they first arrived, the other regiments within the brigade arrived first.  Once the 2nd WI, 7th WI, 19th IN, and 24th MI were in place and fighting their hearts out, the 6th WI was told to stand back and wait.  Being held in reserve when their brothers were fighting, was a difficult thing for these men to do, but waiting didn't last long. 

The men were told to change the direction they were facing and to look towards the north.  To the north, Cutler's brigade was fighting a tough battle with the men of Davis' brigade.  These men couldn't hold them off forever and they didn't.  When Davis' men started to head towards the south, the 6th Wisconsin was waiting for them. 

By this time, the 95th NY had joined the Wisconsin men and little known to the 6th, the 84th NY (14th Brooklyn) was right on the other side of them.  When things started to get sticky, the 6th WI and 95th NY put their heads together and decided it was time to attack.  So, a charge across the field was planned.  Davis was heading straight for them, when suddenly it was as if the earth had swallowed them up.  Davis and his men had just vanished. 

What the men of the NY and WI regiments didn't know, was that about a 150 yards or so from the Chambersburg Pike was a railroad cut.  The railroad tracks had never been lain, but the cuts were there.  The Mississippians of Davis's brigade went down into the cut, thinking that this would be a great place to use as a rifle pit.  However, the sides of the cut ranged from even with the surrounding ground, to about 15 feet high.  Even the tallest men couldn't use the cut as a rifle pit. 

In the meantime, the WI troops ran towards the cut and when they realized that these men were down in it they decided to take advantage of it.  There were only two ways out:  the east end of the cut and the west end of the cut.  Rufus Dawes, the commander of the 6th WI took some of his men and cut off the escape of the east end.  Then Dawes called down into the cut and demanded their surrender.  When all was said and done, these three regiments were able to capture over 200 men from Davis' brigade.

The front monument is to the 6th Wisconsin and the rear monument is to the 95th New York.  This picture was taken at the railroad cut in Gettysburg, PA.