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This image of the 30th Pennsylvania is labeled for reuse from the Wikimedia Commons.
- Soldiers in this regiment signed up for a 3-year enlistment and hailed from Chester, Lancaster, Delaware, York, Cumberland, and Adams Counties.
- Mustered into service on July 26, 1861
- Mustered out on June 10, 1864
Map of the beginning action at the Wheatfield on Day 2 at Gettysburg. This map is also from the Wikimedia Commons.
The most significant action of the 1st Pennsylvania Reserves, otherwise known as the 30th Pennsylvania, began at the base of Little Round Top on Day 2 at Gettysburg. The Regiment had to march all day simply to arrive here at Gettysburg on the 2nd Day. Once they arrived, they were pressed immediately into service and sent to the base of Little Round Top, with the 146th New York on their left. They were not part of the early action but they still played their part and finished the fight.
The Confederates main attack was on the left flank of the Union forces on Day 2 at Gettysburg and the attack achieved a breakthrough. The Confederates had the Union in trouble and were creating a huge gap in the Union line. That is where the 30th PA comes into play. Our regiment, the only men defending their homes, delivered a withering blow with canister shot and then sprang forward to close the gap between Little Round Top and the Wheatfield. When the day concluded, this area was back in Union control.
What stands in their honor today is a rather plain marker that shows where their charge ended. Saving the country does not always mean conquering huge swaths of territory. It sometimes means simply holding your small piece of land and preventing the attacker from taking it... that is what the 30th Pennsylvania did right here in the homeland of some of these men.
30th Pennsylvania Monument located at the Gettysburg Battlefield at the Wheatfield. Picture taken from the Wikimedia Commons.
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