US HQ 11-3rd Division Schurz
Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Army of the Potomac Eleventh Corps Third Division Major General Carl Schurz First Brigade Brig. Gen. Alex Schimmelfennig Col. George Von Amsberg Second Brigade Col. W. Krzyzanowski
The Story
This tablet marks the headquarters of the Eleventh Corps' Third Division, led by Major General Carl Schurz, on the fields north of Gettysburg where the battle's first day unfolded on July 1, 1863. Schurz's division — with brigades under Alexander Schimmelfennig and Wladimir Krzyzanowski — was thrown into line to hold the open ground north of town against advancing Confederate forces. Heavily German-American in makeup, these troops fought hard before being driven back through Gettysburg to the safety of Cemetery Hill.
Why it matters
The Eleventh Corps' desperate stand and retreat on July 1 helped set the stage for the Union's decisive defensive line on the heights south of town — the position that ultimately won the battle.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
By July 1863, the Civil War had carried its armies onto Northern soil. Robert E. Lee's Confederates had marched into Pennsylvania, and the Army of the Potomac hurried to meet them. The armies met at Gettysburg, and on July 1, 1863, the first day of what would become the war's greatest battle unfolded across the fields and low ridges around the town.
Much of that first day's fighting swept over the open ground north of Gettysburg. This tablet marks the headquarters of a division posted there to hold that exposed country as Confederate forces pressed in from the north. It was ground with little natural cover, and holding it meant standing in the open against a growing enemy line.
The division that fought here had a character all its own. Its ranks were filled with immigrants — many of them Germans who had come to America in the wave of migration around the failed European revolutions of 1848 — and it was led by one of the most famous of those newcomers.
People & events
This tablet marks the Third Division of the Eleventh Corps, commanded by Major General Carl Schurz. Schurz was himself a German immigrant and political refugee who had fled Europe after the revolutions of 1848, become a passionate voice against slavery in his adopted country, and risen to command in the Union army. He would go on to a long public life after the war as a United States senator and cabinet officer.
His brigade commanders reflected the immigrant makeup of his troops. Alexander Schimmelfennig, a German-born officer, led the First Brigade, with George von Amsberg also named in its command; Wladimir Krzyzanowski, a Polish immigrant, led the Second. These were men who had crossed an ocean and then taken up arms for their new nation.
On July 1, Schurz's division was rushed into line on the open ground north of town and fought hard against advancing Confederate forces. Outnumbered and eventually flanked, the Eleventh Corps was driven back through the streets of Gettysburg to the high ground of Cemetery Hill south of town. The retreat was chaotic and costly — but the position the survivors reached would prove decisive.
Its place in the American story
The German-American soldiers of the Eleventh Corps are a reminder that the Union army was, from the beginning, an army of many origins. Immigrants fought and died in enormous numbers for the country they had only recently adopted, and the men who stood on this ground were defending a nation many of them had chosen rather than been born into.
The first day's action here ended in a Union retreat, but that retreat led to the ground that won the battle. When Schurz's men and the rest of the army fell back to Cemetery Hill, they took up a strong defensive position on the heights south of town — the line the Union would hold, against everything Lee threw at it, over the next two days.
Gettysburg is remembered as the turning point of the war, and the desperate, unglamorous fighting north of town on July 1 was part of what made the later victory possible. The men here bought time and ground with their lives, and the immigrant soldiers among them earned a place in the American story that is too often overlooked.
If you visit
Stand at the tablet and look north across the open fields. There is very little cover here, and that is exactly the point: this was hard ground to hold, and the men posted here fought in the open against an enemy closing in. The emptiness of the landscape is part of the history.
As you read the names of the officers, notice how many are not English. Schurz, Schimmelfennig, von Amsberg, Krzyzanowski — these were immigrants leading immigrants, and the plaque is a small window onto how many nations were folded into the Union army.
This is a rewarding stop on a tour of the first day's battle, in a quieter part of the field than the famous sites to the south. From here you can trace the path the Eleventh Corps took in its retreat — south through the town to Cemetery Hill, the heights that would anchor the Union line for the rest of the battle.
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
- Beyond the Battle Museum0.2 mi away · 625 Biglerville Road, Gettysburg, PA
- Adams County Historical Society0.2 mi away · 625 Biglerville Road, Gettysburg, PA
- Ticket to the Past - Unforgettable Journeys0.6 mi away · 35 Carlisle Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Thompson House - Lee's HQ0.7 mi away
- The David Wills House Museum0.7 mi away · 8 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- Seminary Ridge Museum, Gettysburg0.8 mi away · 61 Seminary Ridge Avenue, Gettysburg
Attractions
- John Eisenhower Bridge3.5 mi away · Waterworks Road
- Sachs Covered Bridge3.7 mi away
- Sachs Covered Bridge3.7 mi away · Waterworks Road, Gettysburg, PA
Food & drink
- CJ's Takeout & Late Nite Bites0.5 mi away · 150 Carlisle Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Tacos Monarca0.6 mi away · 11 West Railroad Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Lincoln Diner0.6 mi away · 32 Carlisle Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Kazue0.7 mi away · 25 Carlisle Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Waldo's & Company0.7 mi away · 17 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- Mamma's Ventura Lounge0.7 mi away · 13 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg, PA
Places to stay
- Glatfelter Lodge0.4 mi away · PA
- Gettysburg Hotel0.7 mi away · 1 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
- The Union Hotel0.7 mi away · 27 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg, PA
- The Brafferton Inn0.7 mi away · 44 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- The LaVerne Private Guesthouse0.7 mi away · 27 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- The Inn at Lincoln Square0.7 mi away · 12 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA
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Related people
- · Carl Schurz
- · Alexander Schimmelfennig
- · Wladimir Krzyzanowski
- · George von Amsberg
Related events
- · Battle of Gettysburg
- · First day at Gettysburg
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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This tablet marks the Second Brigade of the Eleventh Corps' Third Division, commanded by Colonel Wladimir Krzyzanowski, a Polish-born officer whose brigade drew together New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin regiments rich in German and immigrant volunteers. On July 1, 1863, the brigade was posted on the plain north of Gettysburg, where it met the Confederate advance before falling back through the town. The listed regiments — the 58th and 119th New York, 82nd Ohio, 75th Pennsylvania, and 26th Wisconsin — reflect the diverse, foreign-born character of the Eleventh Corps.
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