5th ME Artillery “Stevens’ Battery” Stevens(w) / Whittier
Cumberland Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Stevens’ Battery 5th Maine, 1st Corps. Fought here July 1,2,3, 1863. Also engaged July 1st north of the Seminary
The Story
This monument honors the 5th Maine Battery — "Stevens' Battery" — of the First Corps, which fought here on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, and was also engaged north of the Seminary on the battle's opening day. Commanded by Captain Greenleaf T. Stevens until he was wounded, the battery is best remembered for its punishing fire from this knoll against Confederate attacks between Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill. Lieutenant Edward N. Whittier took command when Stevens fell.
Why it matters
Well-placed Union artillery was decisive at Gettysburg, and Stevens' Battery's stand at the hinge of the Union line helped hold the high ground that won the battle.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the summer of 1863, the Civil War surged north across the Mason-Dixon line as a Confederate army pushed into Pennsylvania. The Union army moved to stop it, and the two collided at Gettysburg on the first day of July. The three-day battle that followed would become the war's great turning point.
Gettysburg was fought over a landscape of ridges and hills, and among the most important weapons in that terrain was artillery. Well-placed cannon could sweep an attacking line, break up a charge, and hold ground that infantry alone might lose. Command of the high knolls meant command of the field.
This monument stands on just such a rise in Cumberland Township, near the hinge of the Union line. The battery honored here fought across all three days of the battle, its guns positioned where their fire could reach the low ground between the hills that anchored the Federal defense.
People & events
This stone honors the 5th Maine Battery — known as Stevens' Battery — a unit of the First Corps that came a long way from its home state to serve here. According to the inscription, it fought on this ground on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, and was also engaged on the battle's opening day north of the Seminary, where the First Corps met the Confederate advance.
The battery took its familiar name from Captain Greenleaf T. Stevens, who commanded it until he was wounded in the fighting. When Stevens fell, Lieutenant Edward N. Whittier stepped up to lead the guns — the kind of on-the-spot succession that kept a battery firing even as its officers went down.
From this knoll, the battery is best remembered for the punishing fire it poured into Confederate attacks in the saddle of ground between the hills that guarded the Union right and center. Serving a cannon here was exhausting, dangerous work — swabbing, loading, and firing under return fire — and these Maine gunners did it through three days of battle.
Its place in the American story
Artillery well handled was often the difference between a line that held and one that broke, and Gettysburg offers few better illustrations than a battery posted at the junction of the Union defense. Guns placed on the right knoll, firing at the right moment, could stop an assault that no amount of infantry courage alone might have turned back.
The stand of Stevens' Battery came at a genuine hinge of the Federal position, where the line bent between two crucial heights. Holding that high ground was central to the Union victory, and the battery's fire helped make it possible — a local contribution with consequences that reached across the whole battle.
That a single battery's three days of service, and the wounding of its captain, are recorded here in stone speaks to how completely Americans came to revere this battlefield. Gettysburg was mapped and monumented unit by unit, gun position by gun position, so that the sacrifice behind the war's turning point would remain visible on the land itself.
If you visit
Stand on this knoll and pay attention to the ground below and around you. Artillery is all about sightlines, so look outward toward the lower ground the guns once commanded, and you'll understand instantly why gunners fought and died to hold this exact rise.
The spot has a commanding, open feel that sets it apart from the wooded positions nearby — a reminder that this was a place chosen for what its cannon could see and reach. It is easy, here, to picture crews working their guns amid smoke and noise, and an officer taking command when his captain went down.
On a battlefield tour, this is a natural place to pause and take in the wider landscape. Let the elevation orient you: from a knoll like this, the shape of the whole Union line begins to make sense, and you can appreciate how a handful of well-served guns helped hold the high ground on which the battle turned.
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
- Battlefield Military Museum0.1 mi away
- Casteel Sculptures0.4 mi away · 789 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Jennie Wade House Gifts0.4 mi away · 548 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Ford Motor Company Fund Education Center0.5 mi away
- Gettysburg Diorama & History Center0.5 mi away · 241 Steinwehr Avenue, Gettysburg, PA
- Gettysburg Museum0.6 mi away
Attractions
- John Eisenhower Bridge2.8 mi away · Waterworks Road
- Sachs Covered Bridge3.2 mi away
- Sachs Covered Bridge3.2 mi away · Waterworks Road, Gettysburg, PA
Food & drink
- Reid's Winery Cider House0.6 mi away · 400 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Li's Buffet0.8 mi away · 165 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Upper Crust Pizza0.8 mi away · 19 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Borough BBQ0.8 mi away · 15 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Chinatown Kitchen0.8 mi away · 25 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Blue & Gray Bar & Grill0.8 mi away · 2 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
Places to stay
- Comfort Suites0.2 mi away · 945 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, PA
- Inn at Cemetery Hill0.5 mi away · 613 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- 1863 Inn of Gettysburg0.5 mi away · 516 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Brickhouse Inn Bed and Breakfast0.5 mi away · 452 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Colton Motel0.5 mi away · 232 Steinwehr Avenue, Gettysburg, PA
- Quality Inn Gettysburg Battlefield0.5 mi away · 380 Steinwehr Avenue, Gettysburg, PA
Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.
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Related people
- · Greenleaf T. Stevens
- · Edward N. Whittier
Related events
- · Battle of Gettysburg
Themes & tags
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