Of the nearly two thousand participants at the reunion who had been engaged in the Civil War, only sixteen survivors of the Battle of Gettysburg were among them.
The National Park Service obtained the names of fifteen of those sixteen Gettysburg veterans. The men were (from the Union): Robert C. Blair from Los Angeles, Albert Fuller from Michigan, John Salsburg from New York, Charles Sherbondy from Ohio, William Schmucker from Oklahoma, William Merkel from Pennsylvania, Rufus Brown from Ohio, William Sickles from Washington, George Chapman from South Dakota. (From the Confederacy): E.J. Hilliard from Florida, O. Richard Gellette from Louisiana, W.H.L. Wells from Texas, William Cocke from West Virginia, George Chumley from Alabama, and Josiah Henderson from Georgia.
The units in which the Union veterans fought include the following: Robert Blair served with the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Irvin Gregg. Albert Fuller fought with the 78th New York Infantry as part of General George Greene’s Brigade on Culp’s Hill – and Fuller was wounded in that fight. John Salsburg served in the 1st New York Cavalry attached to Carl Shurz’s Division, Eleventh Corps. His unit did not fight at Gettysburg but guarded the lines around the area. Charles Sherbondy served in the 29th Ohio Infantry, also on Culp’s Hill, as part of Candy’s Brigade. William Schmucker, originally from Somerset, Pennsylvania, served with the 93rd Pennsylvania, Wheaton’s Brigade, Federal Sixth Corps. William Merkel, a Philadelphia native, ran away from home at age 15 to join the Union army. He was a member of the 42nd Pennsylvania, the Bucktails, and was wounded in the Wheatfield on July 2, 1863. Rufus Brown served in the 107th Ohio, the Federal Eleventh Corps. William Sickles, originally from New York, was part of Dan Sickles’ Excelsior Brigade, fighting with the 74th New York in the Peach Orchard. George Chapman, originally from Maine, fought with the 19th Maine at Gettysburg – part of John Gibbon’s Division, Federal Second Corps.
The units in which the Confederate Gettysburg veterans from the 75th reunion attended are the following: Edward Jackson Hilliard fought in Perry’s Florida Brigade in the 8th Florida regiment. Otto Richard Gellette was originally from Mississippi and fought in the 2nd Mississippi regiment, commanded by his uncle, John Stone, at Gettysburg. They were part of Longstreet’s Assault (Pickett’s Charge), though as part of Pettigrew’s Division. William Henry Lafayette Wells, from Plano, Texas, was originally from Virginia, and served in the 28th Virginia under Dick Garnett, part of Pickett’s Division. George Chumley served with the 4th Alabama, and fought at Devil's Den and the Round Tops. The Reverend William Cocke, from Huntington, West Virginia served in the Stonewall Brigade at Gettysburg, on Culp's Hill. Josiah Henderson was part of Dorsey Pender’s Division, Thomas’ Brigade at Gettysburg. He survived Gettysburg and the war, but was seriously wounded at The Wilderness in 1864.
Information provided by The National Park Service, The National Archives and Ancestry.com.
