American Civil War Battlefield Monuments

Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren Monument

Little Round Top

Gettysburg National Military Park

  Photo and Text courtesy of LCWRT Member Charlie Moore

Brig. Gen. Warren was Chief Engineer of the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Gettysburg.  His bronze statue stands atop the boulder he is said to have stood on during the second  day of the battle. When he arrived in the afternoon, he found only a small Signal Corps detachment.  Realizing the importance of this position, on his own authority, he diverted the brigades of Col. Strong Vincent and Col. Stephen Weed, to what became the successful defense of Little Round Top.  He was slightly wounded in his throat but remained on the battlefield. 

After Gettysburg, Warren was given command of the 5^th Corps which he led successfully through the Overland Campaign and the siege of Petersburg.  He was relieved of command by Gen. Phillip Sheridan at the Battle of Five Forks, April 1, 1865, for being too late to the battle.  After the war he resigned his commission as a major general to protest  Sheridan’s action and returned to the Corps of Engineers.  He spent the rest of his career trying to exonerate his name.  A court appointed by President Rutherford B. Hays in 1879 found that Sheridan’s action had been unjustified.  Unfortunately Warren had died 3 months previously.  Per his wishes he was buried with no military honors and in civilian clothing.