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Monuments at Gettysburg – 56th Pennsylvania Infantry
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on November 9, 2014
The 56th Pennsylvania Infantry Monument at Gettysburg is located west of the town of Gettysburg on Reynolds Avenue. It was dedicated as part of the group of monuments paid for by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1889. The drawing of the monument (above) is from the Philadelphia Inquirer article describing the monument dedications. For a picture of the monument, see Steven Recker’s Virtual Gettysburg Web Site which has more information about the monument and the 56th Pennsylvania Infantry.
A full description of the monument, its GPS coordinates, a photograph, and some of the history of the 56th Pennsylvania Infantry can be found on the Stone Sentinels Web Site.
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On 11 September 1889, the Philadelphia Inquirer included the following information on the 56th Pennsylvania Infantry in its article on the monument dedications:
Guarding Every Fence Panel.
The 56th Regiment was from Philadelphia, Luzerne, Indiana, Centre, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, and Wayne Counties. It was the 56th, under Colonel Sullivan A. Meredith, that was ordered by McDowell to see that “no corn was taken from Citizen Huffman at Belle Plains if he had to put a guard at every fence panel.” This regiment opened first fire at Gettysburg, Colonel Hofmann commanding, the position being on Oak Ridge. They did fierce fighting there, and after withdrawing to Seminary Ridge on the 2nd, they occupied the angle at the summit of Culp’s Hill in the woods, and poured a murderous fire upon the advancing rebels. On the 3rd they supported the batteries in the cemetery.
The exercises of the 56th Regiment will be: Call to order, Lieutenant T. D. Cunningham; prayer, Rev. Dr. H. W. Knight; address, General J. W. Hofmann; benediction, Rev. Dr. W. Knight.
The comrades will assemble at 9 A.M. 11 September, at the rooms of Corporal Skelly Post, No.l 9, G.A.R., to proceed to the grounds where the memorial has been erected on Reynolds Avenue.
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John William Hofmann (1824-1902)
John William Hofmann was from Philadelphia and was 39 years old when he took command of the 56th Pennsylvania Infantry as its Colonel, the rank he held at the Battle of Gettysburg. On 1 August 1864, he was promoted to Brevet Brigadier General, about 5 months after his service in the 56th Pennsylvania Infantry ended. His first service in the Civil War was with the 23rd Pennsylvania Infantry, Company E.
Hofmann died on 5 March 1902 and is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia. Additional information about him can be found at his Findagrave Memorial.
Note: John William Hofmann spelled his name as it is presented here, not as it is found in many histories, “Hoffman.” He is also sometimes found in the records as J. William Hofmann, John W. Hofmann, and J. W. Hofmann.
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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 56th 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 56th Pennsylvania Infantry, but was not part of the regiment during its days in 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.
Thanks so much for this. I descend from John H. Farber, noted as a sergeant on the Gettysburg panel you included in this post (Co “H” 56th PA). On May Day, 1864, when Grant took his forces over the Rappahannock and never turned back, John H. Farber was promoted to 1st Sergeant. I have the certificate signed and dated by his commanding officer, Bvt. Brig Gen. John William Hofmann. (other sites have continually spelled his name incorrectly…..and argued with me when I’ve tried to correct it.) My ancestor, John (who was 45 years old at the time and had served continually since the first 3-month enlistment—first in the 7th PA Militia from Centre Co, PA) was no doubt devoted to the leadership that Hofmann provided. My John was wounded both at Gettysburg (in the first half hour at the RailRoad Cut) and Spotsylvania (at the orchard of the Lacy House on Laurel Hill), but returned to the regiment upon recovery each time. When the 3-year-enlistments were up, he re-enlisted as only one of about 75 surviving veterans of the 56th PA to do so. Hofmann had spent his own money to publish a phamplet to take on a recruiting trip to Philadelphia in the spring of 1864. He’d led the regiment since near the beginning of his service, as the first commanding officer, Meredith, was wounded early on and taken out of action (tho’ Meredith remained in the service and after the war was sent to the midwest to finish his army career). I know very little of the personal life of Hofmann, the REAL leader of the 56th PA during it’s most dangerous days in service as a part of the First Corp (which was dissolved after Gettysburg….they joined the 5th Corp for the rest of the war)… and would like to know more…and even about his descendants. He was from a family that owned a hosiery manufacturing firm in Philadelphia, in which, I believe, he was employed before the war. He had 2 daughters, no sons to carry his name. He belonged to at least one-post war veteran’s assn. in Philadelphia after the war. He dedicated the beautifully simple and true-to-life monument of the 56th PA at the Rail Road Cut on the Gettysburg battlefield c. 1889. I love it so, b/c, next to the other monuments of charging soldiers or standing generals….it is cast brass of arms at rest and a furled flad atop the company drum. Their battle flag is reproduced, naming the battles they participated in…on the side of the monument. Even the Gettysburg Park Rangers know where this monument is without looking it up, due to it’s elegant understatement of arms at rest, paid for and placed by the 56’s veterans, and dedicated by the (then) Colonel who led them that day. Hofmann is buried, as you noted, in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia. I do have a wartime photo of my John H. Farber, courtesy of a cousin-removed, whose family also has his wartime money-belt. I am also in contact with other cousins-removed who descend from John H. Farber (we’ve never met…we found each other via mail and internet over the years).. We are not quite sure where our John H. Farber is buried, though I have government paperwork sworn-to by his relatives who served in other regiments, when they identified his body on the morning of 7 February, 1865 (the day after he was killed while on the picket line near Dabney’s Saw Mill on Hatcher’s Run in VA). His widow lived until 1924,at times (after a surviving yet a second husband) spending her elder years in the homes of her grandchildren/great-grandchildren, one of whom was my grandfather, who was 11-years-old when she died. His stories of her are legend in our family…..Love your site! Thank You.