On the morning of July 3, Brig. General Horatio Wright, commanding the First Division of the VI Corps, proceeded here with Brig. General David Russell’s brigade and Col. Lewis Grant’s brigade of Brig. General Albion Howe’s division. 2 Russell and Grant’s brigades combined for an estimated strength of 3,400 men. 3 (Ironically, Howe’s division was positioned near what is today Wright Avenue and Wright’s men were around modern Howe Avenue.) Two batteries from the V Corps Artillery Reserve provided additional support. Ultimately nothing came of Longstreet’s proposed turning movement and the troops here were relatively unengaged, although Grant reported that they were subject to the enemy’s overshooting artillery during the afternoon. 4 Howe’s deployment, incidentally, gave him the unique distinction of having infantry on both extreme flanks of the army. Grant’s brigade was here on the Union left and his other brigade under Brig. General Thomas Neill defended the far right near Wolf’s Hill.

Unfortunately, the lack of visitation to this area deprives battlefield stompers of the opportunity to view one of the most picturesque portraits on any monument at Gettysburg: the lion on top of the 1st Vermont Brigade monument. Since the Vermonters were positioned to block any Confederate attempts to turn the Union left flank, the veterans who placed this memorial believed that “the enemy would have found a ‘lion in his path’ had he made the anticipated movement.” Although it was originally hoped that this monument would be placed at “the highest point on Sedgwick Avenue” to the lion’s “right and rear he hears the roar of the conflict preceding and during Pickett’s charge, and is ready to spring to that point if necessary.” The lion was designed by Boston artist Charles Wellington Reed. He was a Medal of Honor recipient for bravery with the 9th Massachusetts Battery on July 2 at Gettysburg.5