General Webb’s Gettysburg statue was dedicated in October 1915. The statue was erected through the efforts of friends in New York and not the Philadelphia Brigade as one might initially assume, although the Philadelphia veterans eagerly participated in the dedication ceremonies upon request. Webb was also once honored within the Park by “Webb Avenue,” which was a short side avenue that looped inside of the Angle and west of modern Hancock Avenue. Supporters wanted to place a monument to him there and nearer to the stone wall that he successfully defended, but prior to his death Webb himself had requested a position east of Hancock Avenue and facing the Angle. He preferred this location as “one central point which demanded more effort and attention from him in the emergencies that arose than any other part of the arena.” So this position was marked by early battlefield commissioner John P. Nicholson. 116

The statue is meant to commemorate “both strength and courage.” Although Webb stated that he wore a short shell jacket with Meade’s old brigadier’s shoulder straps affixed during the battle, the monument depicts him “in the full uniform of a Major General, U.S.A., the open collar gives the lungs a chance for air without as well as within. In the stalwart stand and proud pose and in the fire and resolve of the eyes there is intrepidity and alertness- a commander ready for any emergency and resolved to conquer or die.” 117

As difficult as it may be to visualize, some Union soldiers were actually captured by the Confederates in the fighting near the Copse of Trees and the Angle.

• Private Anthony McDermott of the 69th Pennsylvania claimed that during the hand-to-hand fighting at the Copse of Trees, ”Company ‘F’ completely hustled over the stone wall into the enemy’s ranks, and all were captured.” 1
• Major Charles Peyton of Garnett’s Brigade noted in his report: “Here we captured some prisoners, which were ordered to the rear without a guard.” 2 Likewise, Lt. George Finley of the 56th Virginia said that within 75-100 yards of the stone wall, several Union soldiers cried out, “Don’t Shoot! We surrender!” and were ordered back to the rear unescorted. 3

Probably the best-known Union “prisoner” was Sgt. Major William Stockton, a 22-year-old former dentist from Philadelphia:

The men who were with me stood and fought, and the enemy came in in great numbers, and, as I remember it, there was a great boulder which formed a sort of stepping stone and made it easy to get over the wall, and they appeared to mass at this place, I suppose on account of it being easier to get over, and came over the wall in overwhelming numbers. They came with such force that they seemed to rebound and go back. Like a wave receding from the shore, and as they went back they took us with them. When we got on the other side of the wall they ordered us to the rear, but I told the men to stay where they were. Then, a non-commissioned officer was ordered to take us back but he didn’t do it. 4

Although Stockton’s euphemistic portrayal of surrendering – large masses of men somehow receding back across the wall like a great tidal wave—may defy the laws of physics, the “stepping stone” that he described is still actively used and visible today on the immediate west side of the wall at the Angle. The flat boulder, undoubtedly weathered by more than a century of tourists tramping over it, is sometimes referred to as the “Stockton Rock.” 5

Stockton’s men then lay down and took shelter on the west side of the wall as bullets were thudding into the surrounding stones. Finally, when the would-be Southern captors had more than enough difficulties of their own to handle, Stockton and friends jumped back over the wall and ran to the safety of their Yankee colleagues. 6

Stockton avoided captivity and survived the war, despite suffering a head wound at Spotsylvania Courthouse. Stockton held a variety of postwar occupations and was active in the veterans affairs of the old Philadelphia Brigade. The regimental association that erected the 71st Pennsylvania monument in 1887 was under his chairmanship and he also welcomed the contingent of Pickett’s veterans who returned to Gettysburg during that year’s reunion. A lifelong bachelor, he died in 1913. 7

The comparatively high casualties suffered by those Union batteries who unlimbered along the northern extent of Cemetery Ridge speak to the lethality of Lee’s attack. Several of the Union batteries in and around the Angle were assigned to Capt. John Hazard’s II Corps Artillery Brigade. Hazard’s command ranked first in Union artillery casualties. Their 149 numeric losses were 43 more than any other brigade, and their loss rate of 24.6% was also the highest in the army. 1 Hazard lamented the loss of several battery officers in his report:

1. Captain James M. Rorty (Battery B, 1st New York Light Artillery): Hazard reported that Rorty “had enjoyed his new position but one day” before being killed while Kemper’s men temporarily overran his battery. Captain Cowan wrote that he buried Rorty on the field along with others from Cowan’s battery and one Rebel officer. 2 Rorty’s battery monument is well south of the Copse of Trees near the 1st Minnesota’s July 3 monument.
2. Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing (Battery A, 4th U.S.): “He especially distinguished himself for his extreme gallantry and bravery, his courage and ability, and his love for his profession.”
3. Lieutenant George Woodruff (Battery I, 1st U.S.): Woodruff’s battery was positioned in Ziegler’s Grove and their battery monument can be located there. Woodruff was mortally wounded while the Southerners were retreating and died on July 4.
4. Lieutenant Joseph Milne (detached from Brown’s Battery B, 1st Rhode Island Light and serving with Cushing’s battery): Milne was mortally wounded “by a musket-shot through the lungs” and lingered until July 10. “In his regiment he was noted for his bravery and willingness to encounter death in any guise.” 3

The complete story of many who served and died here will never truly be known. Private Ansel Fassett was a member of Cushing’s battery during the repulse of Pickett’s Charge. According to enlistment records, Fassett entered the service in October 1862 at the age of 18. He was born in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania and was a farmer. Official sources indicate that he was wounded by a shell fragment in his hip and died in a hospital on July 13. Fassett is buried today in the U.S. Regulars plot of Gettysburg’s National Cemetery, under a stone that is misspelled “Amest Fassette.” 4