The 14th Connecticut at Gettysburg - Still Amazing 153 Years Later

VERNON, CT - It’s July 3, 2016.

It marks 153 years since the 14th Connecticut Regiment of Volunteers fought at Gettysburg.

Even after all this time, even the most seasoned Civil War enthusiasts say it’s a bit mind-boggling to discuss what the members of the regiment did that day.

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“The 14th was involved,” said Matthew Reardon, the director of the New England Civil War Museum.

Reardon said that matter-of-factly, without any sign of exaggeration, while holding a Connecticut-made Sharps rifle he said was used in the battle and likely fashioned at the gun-maker’s Hartford factory. The backdrop was the fully preserved Grand Army of the Republic hall inside Vernon’s town hall that houses the museum and once played host to Union Army veterans meetings.

“They were right there at the wall,” he said of the 14th’s soldiers. “They were at the angle.”

And they were battered. The 14th had about 175 men at Gettysburg, about 700 fewer than were at the Battle of Antietam the previous September, Reardon said.

The 14th arrived in Gettysburg later in the day in July 1 as part of the 2nd Corps march into Pennsylvania from Virginia, Reardon said. After being organized into the battle lines that night, the regiment was placed in reserve on the second day.

Then came the third day, Pickett’s charge and the 14th at the wall, Reardon said.

“They defended the wall as the North Carolinians charged toward them, under Johnston Pettigrew,” Reardon said. “It is amazing what these guys went through, but they held and captured five Confederate battle flags.”

The Web site gettysburg.stonesentinels.com points out under a picture of the 14th Connecticut monument at Gettysburg that the 14th captured more than 200 prisoners and sharp-shooters from the Bliss buildings in Gerrysburg.

In all, the 14th suffered 62 more casualties at The Angle, according to the Web site.

The 14th Connecticut is featured prominently in a painting of The Angle by famed historical artist Mort Kunstler.

The New England Civil War Museum features an extensive collection of 14th Connecticut artifacts, including several personal effects of Benjamin Hirst of Vernon, who served at The Angle.

The Hirst collection includes a personal sidearm he had at Gettysburg - a Smith and Wesson made in Connecticut along with the gun’s bullets.

The museum recently acquired a carte-de-visite of Hirst. A carte-de-visite, or CDV, is the 1860s version of the modern day business card. CDVs typically featured a picture of the person.

In the case of Hirst, it was undocumented - and Reardon found it on one of his expeditions on e-Bay.

“I noticed it was him and the photographer stamp on the back (E.T. Ely of the Rockville section of Vernon) authenticated it,” Reardon said. “We had to have it for the Gettysburg exhibit.”

Reardon said Hirst had the CDV made about a month after being wounded at Gettysburg while on furlough. He took shrapnel in the shoulder during the bombardment that was designed to break up the Union defenses before Pickett’s charge.

“It’s great that we can acquire these types of things,” Reardon said. “It helps the museum and all of us remember what the 14th went through."

Photos by Chris Dehnel

1. The personal sidearm Benjamin Hirst carried at Gettysburg
   
2. A CDV of Hirst
   
3. A book at the New England Civil War Museum featured a Mort Kunstler painting of the CT 14th in action at The Angle
   
4. New England Civil War Museum Director Matthew Reardon with a Sharps rifle used at Gettysburg.
   
5. The New England Civil War Museum