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Monuments at Gettysburg – 30th Pennsylvania Infantry
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on September 13, 2014
The 30th Pennsylvania Infantry (1st Pennsylvania Reserves) Monument at Gettysburg is located south of Gettysburg on Ayres Avenue. It was not dedicated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania until 1890 and thus it was not pictured in the 1889 article that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The picture of the monument is from Steve Recker’s Virtual Gettysburg Web Site which has additional information about the monument and the 30th Pennsylvania Infantry.
A full description of the monument, its GPS coordinates, a picture, and some of the history of the 30th Pennsylvania Infantry can be found on the Stone Sentinels Web Site.
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The Inquirer article of 11 September 1889 featured a brief description of the Gettysburg action in which the 30th Pennsylvania Infantry participated:
They Strewed the Field with Rebels
Upon crossing the Maryland line Colonel Talley announced to his men, of the 30th Regiment, 1st Reserves, that they had entered Pennsylvania and soon meet the enemy that threatened their homes and families. He knew his gallant men would not rest until the invaders were driven from their State. The caps of the greatly fatigued me flew up in the air, swords were brandished and they shouted forth national songs. On the 2nd, on the right of Little Round Top, their determined charges drove the enemy back upon his reserves and strewed the field with rebel dead. Colonel Talley commanded the brilliant movement of the 3rd, driving the enemy in confusion, capturing 100 prisoners and numerous stands of arms.
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Colonel William Cooper Talley was born on 11 December 1831 in Delaware and at the time he enrolled in the 1st Pennsylvania Reserves, he was a newspaper editor in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
Talley enrolled at Philadelphia on 30 May 1861 and was mustered in as Captain of Company F on 26 July 1861. He was promoted to Colonel of the regiment on 1 Mar 1863, the position in which he served at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he also was wounded. Near the end of the war, after serving with other regiments, he became Brevet General, 13 March 1865. His Pennsylvania Veterans’ File Card (above) from the Pennsylvania Archives notes that he stood over 6 foot tall, making him one of the more imposing officers of the war.
William C. Talley died on 20 October 1903 at Washington, D.C., where he had worked at the Congressional Record Printing Office for 21 years. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia. More information can be found about him at his Findagrave Memorial.
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Around the base of the Pennsylvania Memorial at Gettysburg are a series of plaques which, by regiment and company, note the names of every soldier who was present at the Battle of Gettysburg. The plaque for the 30th Pennsylvania Infantry is pictured above. By clicking on the plaque it should enlarge so the names can be more clearly read. If a name does not appear, it could be that the soldier did serve in the 30th Pennsylvania Infantry, but was not part of the regiment during its days at Gettysburg. There could also be errors on the plaque.
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The news clipping is from the on-line resources of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Thank you so much for this information. William Cooper Talley is my great grandfather. My wife & I have been researching for years information about him. We had never seen the newspaper article. If you had any other information or pictures about him we’d love to see them. Any help you can add to our research is appreciated.