MI 1st, 5th, 6th & 7th MI Vol Cavalry Regs Custer
Mount Pleasant Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Erected by the State of Michigan to honor her martyrs & heros who fought in defence of liberty and union.
The Story
Erected by the State of Michigan, this monument honors the men of the 1st, 5th, 6th, and 7th Michigan Cavalry — the Michigan Cavalry Brigade led by the young Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer — who fought on the fields east of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. There, Union horsemen turned back a Confederate mounted attack intended to strike the rear of the Union line as Pickett's Charge went forward to the west.
Why it matters
The cavalry clash here helped secure the Union's hard-won victory and launched the wartime fame of one of America's most storied — and later most controversial — officers.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the summer of 1863 the Civil War reached its high-water mark in the fields around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. For three days at the beginning of July, two great armies grappled across ridges, wheat fields, and orchards in what became the largest battle ever fought in North America.
States across the Union sent their sons into that fight, and among them was Michigan — a young state, admitted only a generation earlier, whose regiments had already earned a reputation for hard fighting. Its cavalry, in particular, would make its name in the open country east of the town.
While the infantry battle is the one most people picture, mounted troops played a decisive role on the flanks and rear. Cavalry were the eyes of an army and, at the critical moment, its shield — screening movements, guarding roads, and standing in the way of enemy horsemen who might strike where they were least expected.
People & events
This monument was raised by the State of Michigan to honor the men of its 1st, 5th, 6th, and 7th Cavalry regiments — the hard-riding brigade that fought in the mounted engagement east of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863.
They were led that day by George Armstrong Custer, then a newly minted brigadier general and strikingly young for the rank. Flamboyant, fearless, and eager to close with the enemy, Custer put himself at the head of his Michiganders in the thick of the fighting. On this field the young general and his troopers helped blunt a Confederate cavalry thrust aimed at the rear of the Union line.
The timing was no accident. As the great infantry assault known as Pickett's Charge surged toward the Union center to the west, Confederate horsemen sought to strike from behind. The Michigan Brigade and their fellow Union cavalry met them saber to saber and turned them back — a sharp, violent clash of mounted men that never became as famous as the charge it helped defeat.
Its place in the American story
The fighting on this ground is one of the great 'what ifs' of American history, and its answer helped decide the battle. Had Confederate cavalry broken through to the Union rear at the same moment Pickett's men assaulted the front, the outcome at Gettysburg might have looked very different — and Gettysburg was the battle that turned the tide of the war.
The monument's language — honoring those who fought 'in defence of liberty and union' — captures how Northerners understood their cause: not merely to win a battle, but to preserve the nation itself. A distant state carved that conviction into stone on a Pennsylvania field far from home.
And here the wider legend of Custer began. The dashing young officer who led this charge would ride on to lasting fame — and, years later, to a controversy and a fate that still stir debate. On this field, though, he was simply a bold cavalryman helping to secure a Union victory that the whole country would remember.
If you visit
This is cavalry country — open, rolling ground east of the main Gettysburg battlefield, where the fighting was fast-moving rather than fixed in trenches and stone walls. Picture horsemen at the gallop rather than lines of infantry, and the landscape starts to tell its story.
Look closely at the monument's dedication from the State of Michigan. There's something moving in a state reaching across half a continent to honor its 'martyrs and heroes' on ground so far from the Great Lakes. Read it and you feel the distance those men traveled to fight here.
If you're touring Gettysburg, make time to leave the crowded center and come out to these quieter fields. It rounds out the story — reminding you that the battle was won not only in the famous places, but on flanking ground like this, where a young general and his Michigan troopers helped hold the line.
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
- Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association2.2 mi away
- Battlefield Military Museum3.3 mi away
- Ford Motor Company Fund Education Center3.4 mi away
- Gettysburg Museum3.4 mi away
- Casteel Sculptures3.5 mi away · 789 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Jennie Wade House Gifts3.5 mi away · 548 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
Attractions
- John Eisenhower Bridge5.8 mi away · Waterworks Road
- Sachs Covered Bridge6.2 mi away
- Sachs Covered Bridge6.2 mi away · Waterworks Road, Gettysburg, PA
Food & drink
- Mason Dixon Distillery3.3 mi away · 331 East Water Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Li's Buffet3.3 mi away · 165 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Chinatown Kitchen3.4 mi away · 25 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Upper Crust Pizza3.5 mi away · 19 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Borough BBQ3.5 mi away · 15 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Reid's Winery Cider House3.5 mi away · 400 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
Places to stay
- Courtyard Gettysburg1.8 mi away · 115 Presidential Circle, Gettysburg, PA
- Wyndham1.8 mi away · 95 Presidential Circle, Gettysburg, PA
- Sleep Inn and Suites1.9 mi away · 1650 York Road, Gettysburg, PA
- Hampton Gettysburg2.3 mi away · 1280 York Road, Gettysburg, PA
- Hilton Garden Inn2.4 mi away · 1061 York Road, Gettysburg, PA
- Americas Best Value Inn2.5 mi away · 983 York Road, Gettysburg, PA
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Related people
- · George Armstrong Custer
Related events
- · Battle of Gettysburg
Themes & tags
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