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Monuments at Gettysburg – 35th Pennsylvania Infantry
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on October 3, 2014
The 35th Pennsylvania Infantry (6th Pennsylvania Reserves) Monument at Gettysburg is located south of Gettysburg at the Wheatfield. It was dedicated in 1890, after the extensive number of battlefield monument dedications that took place in 1889 on the 25th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. The view of the monument pictured above is from Steve Recker’s Virtual Gettysburg Web Site which has more information about the monument and the 35th Pennsylvania Infantry.
A full description of the monument, its GPS coordinates, and some of the history of the 35th Pennsylvania Infantry can be found on the Stone Sentinels Web Site.
Six members of this regiment were awarded the Medal of Honor for their charge on a log house near Devil’s Den. Some information about this is found on the Stone Sentinels Web Site page for the 35th Pennsylvania Infantry. The men who received the medal were George W. Mears, Chester S. Furman, John W. Hart, J. Levi Roush, Thaddeus S. Smith, and Wallace W. Johnson.
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On 11 September 1889, the Philadelphia Inquirer provided information about the 35th Pennsylvania Infantry:
Work of the 6th Reserves
The 35th (6th Reserves) fought at Gettysburg on the 2nd under the command of Colonel William McCandless of the 2nd Reserve, Colonel William Sinclair having resigned. It made an attack from Round Top at 2 P.M. with but small loss, remained in front during the night, and was engaged in skirmishing during the entire third day and until 2 P.M. on the 4th, when it was bivouacked on Little Round Top. It pursued the rebels to Falling Waters, thence to Bristol Station, Bull Run, Rappahannock Station, Kettle Run. Next year it entered the Wilderness campaign. There it constantly fought with unflinching courage, losing 86 men. After three years’ share of the victories and hardships of the Army of the Potomac, the regiment returned to Harrisburg to be mustered out 14 June.
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Wellington H. Ent (1834-1871)
The commander of the 35th Pennsylvania Infantry at Gettysburg was Lieutenant Colonel Wellington Henry Ent, born at Lightstreet, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, 18 August 1834. On 22 May 1861 Wellington Ent joined the 35th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company A, as Captain, the position he held when the regiment was mustered into service on 27 July 1861 at Washington, D.C. On 21 September 1862 he was promoted to Major and on 1 May 1863 he became Lieutenant Colonel. His promotion to Colonel of the regiment came on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. After Gettysburg, he remained with the regiment and was wounded at Bethesda Church, Maryland, 30 May 1864, and was mustered out of service on 11 June 1864. On 13 March 1865, he received his final promotion to Brevet Brigadier General.
Prior to his military service, he was a lawyer in Bloomsburg, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, where he had been born on 18 August 1834. He stood 5 foot 5 five inches tall, had chestnut hair, gray eyes, and a light complexion.
Wellington H. Ent died a young man on 5 November 1871 and is buried in the family mausoleum at the Old Rosemont Cemetery in Bloomsburg. For more information about him and his family, see 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 35th Pennsylvania Infantry is pictured below. 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 35th 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.
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