150th Pennsylvania “2nd Reg Bucktail Brigade” Wister / Huidekoper(w) / Jones
Cumberland Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
This monument marks the most advanced line facing west, occupied by the regiment. Repeated changes of front were made to meet assaults from the north and west and the right wing charged to R.R. cut. In retiring it made several stands and engaged the enemy… transcription continues on the marker
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The Story
This monument marks the most advanced westward line held by the 150th Pennsylvania Infantry on July 1, 1863, near the unfinished railroad cut on the fields northwest of Gettysburg. As Confederate assaults came from both the north and the west, the regiment repeatedly changed front and its right wing charged toward the cut, fighting a series of stubborn stands even as it was slowly driven back toward town. It was combat of the most exhausting kind — men wheeling to face attacks from two directions at once.
Why it matters
It captures the chaos and tenacity of Gettysburg's first day, when First Corps regiments traded ground for the time the Union army needed to win.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
By the summer of 1863 the Civil War had reached deep into the North. The Confederate army had marched across the Potomac and into Pennsylvania, and the Union Army of the Potomac was racing to intercept it. The rolling farmland around Gettysburg, in Adams County, was about to witness the largest battle of the war.
Gettysburg mattered because roads from every direction met there. When the vanguards of the two armies ran into each other on July 1, 1863, on the fields northwest of town, a chance meeting quickly grew into a desperate, swirling fight.
The 150th Pennsylvania, a regiment of the First Corps and part of Pennsylvania's Bucktail tradition, was among the units thrown into that opening day. These were home-state volunteers, defending Northern soil, drawn into combat on ground crossed by an unfinished railroad line that would give the fighting some of its most dramatic moments.
People & events
This monument marks the most advanced line the regiment reached facing west, out on the fields northwest of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863. Its inscription describes a fight of exhausting complexity: repeated changes of front to meet assaults coming from both the north and the west, and a charge by the regiment's right wing toward the nearby railroad cut.
To change front under fire is one of the hardest things soldiers can do — pivoting a line of men to face a new threat while shells and bullets are already tearing through them. The 150th did it again and again, wheeling to meet danger first from one direction and then another, as the Confederate attack pressed in from two sides at once.
And when the line finally had to give way, the retreat was no simple flight. The inscription records that in retiring the regiment made several stands and kept engaging the enemy — falling back the hard way, in fits and starts, contesting the ground as it went. It is a portrait of a unit fighting for time against mounting odds.
Its place in the American story
The first day at Gettysburg was a delaying action that shaped everything that followed. By trading ground slowly and expensively northwest of town, First Corps regiments like this one bought the hours the Union army needed to gather and to seize the high ground south of Gettysburg.
That high ground decided the battle, and Gettysburg in turn is remembered as the turning point of the Civil War. The stubborn, confused fighting near the railroad cut on July 1 — men wheeling to face attacks from north and west, then giving ground grudgingly — was part of the price of that larger victory.
A marker placed at a regiment's farthest advance captures a truth about how this war was fought and won: in the willingness of ordinary soldiers to hold an exposed position as long as humanly possible, and to keep fighting even as they were driven back. The chaos and tenacity recorded here are the human reality behind the word 'Gettysburg.'
If you visit
Look for this monument on the open fields northwest of Gettysburg, near the line of the unfinished railroad cut. This is first-day ground, and it has a different character from the famous hills to the south — wider, more agricultural, the kind of terrain where you can see how attacks might come sweeping in from more than one direction.
Stand at the stone and take in the ground to the west and the north. The inscription tells you the regiment had to keep turning to face threats from both, and the landscape itself helps you feel why that was so punishing. The nearby railroad cut is worth finding, since it drew some of the fiercest fighting of the day.
Because the battle began out here, these fields make a fitting first stop on a tour that follows the action in sequence. Walk them early, imagine the smoke and the shifting lines, and then trace the fighting back toward town and the heights beyond — the way the soldiers themselves were forced to go.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- Thompson House - Lee's HQ0.4 mi away
- Seminary Ridge Museum, Gettysburg0.5 mi away · 61 Seminary Ridge Avenue, Gettysburg
- Ticket to the Past - Unforgettable Journeys1.2 mi away · 35 Carlisle Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Beyond the Battle Museum1.2 mi away · 625 Biglerville Road, Gettysburg, PA
- Adams County Historical Society1.2 mi away · 625 Biglerville Road, Gettysburg, PA
- The David Wills House Museum1.2 mi away · 8 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
Attractions
- John Eisenhower Bridge2.8 mi away · Waterworks Road
- Sachs Covered Bridge3.0 mi away
- Sachs Covered Bridge3.0 mi away · Waterworks Road, Gettysburg, PA
Food & drink
- Tania's Mexican Restaurant0.9 mi away
- Hong Kong0.9 mi away
- Garryowen Irish Pub1.1 mi away · 126 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Jasper's Juice Works1.1 mi away · 110 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg, PA
- food 1011.1 mi away · 101 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Ragged Edge Coffee House1.1 mi away · 110 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg, PA
Places to stay
- The Inn at Herr Ridge B&B0.6 mi away · 900 Chambersburg Road, Gettysburg, PA
- Glatfelter Lodge0.9 mi away · PA
- The Union Hotel1.1 mi away · 27 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Gettysburg Hotel1.2 mi away · 1 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- The Inn at Lincoln Square1.2 mi away · 12 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- The LaVerne Private Guesthouse1.3 mi away · 27 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
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Related events
- · Battle of Gettysburg
- · First Day at Gettysburg
Themes & tags
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