1. This previously unpublished letter is part of the extensive John Gibbon Papers, Box 1, Folder 8, Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
2. Freeman Cleaves, Meade of Gettysburg (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1960; reprint, Dayton, Ohio: Morningside, 1980), p. 46.
3. John Gibbon, The Artillerists Manual, Compiled from Various Sources, and Adapted to the Service of the United States (New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1859). A second revised and enlarged edition of this extremely rare and detailed work was published in 1863.
4. In his published memoirs, Gibbon gave a brief description of the long journey, during which his son John was born. A much more detailed account may be found in an unpublished manuscript in the Gibbon Papers at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
5. Correspondence between the author (Steven Wright) and Mrs. Helen C. Kinney, grand-daughter of Nicholas Biddle Gibbon, has revealed that Gibbons oldest brother, Richard, served in the Confederate navy. His brother Robert served in the 28th North Carolina Infantry and became a surgeon in Brig. Gen. James Lanes brigade. His youngest brother, Nicholas, also served in the 28th North Carolina. Two brothers-in-law, Richard Lardner and James Humbert, were also Confederate officers.
1 6. Gibbon Papers, Box 1, Folder 4, letter dated September 21, 1862.
1 7. Ibid., Box 2, unpublished typescript, dated Gettysburg, August 1892,
Sketches from the Battle-Fields of the War Harry W. Pfanz, Gettysburg: The Second Day (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987), pp. 9-10.
1 8. John Gibbon, Personal Recollections of the Civil War (New York: G. P. Putnams Sons, 1928; reprint, Dayton, Ohio: Morningside, 1977), pp. 142-43.
1 9. Ibid., p. 145.
1 10. Ibid., pp. 146-47. Although it has been well documented that two artillery pieces opened the bombardment preceding the charge, Gibbon recalled hearing only one gun.
1 11. Ibid., pp. 150-51.
1 12. Ibid., pp. 152-53, 168.
1 13. An examination of official reports and post-war recollections of the battle show a discrepancy in the number of guns and flags lost by the Second Corps at Reams Station. Although some figures place the number of flags lost as high as twelve, the generally accepted number is seven. See United States War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 70 vols. in 128 parts (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901), series 1, vol. 42, pt. 1.
1 14. Gibbon Papers, Box 1, Folder 10, letter dated August 27, 1864.
1 15. Glenn Tucker, Hancock the Superb (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1960; reprint, Dayton, Ohio: Morningside, 1980), p. 188.
1 16. Gibbon, Personal Recollections, pp. 260-61.
1 17. Ibid., p. 262.
1 18. Prior to the battle Gibbon was known to the Indians as One Who Limps. Following his wounding he was known as
One Who Limps Twice. Dee Brown, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (New York: Bantam Books, 1972), p. 308.
1 19. Copies of some of Gibbons articles may be found in the Gibbon Papers at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. There is also some evidence that the general was writing another book which was never finished.
1 20. Baltimore Sun, April 7, 1896, p. 8.
1 21. Haskell was describing Gibbon as he appeared at Meades headquarters on the night of July 2. Frank A. Haskell, The Battle of Gettysburg (Madison: Wisconsin History Commission, Democrat Printing Co., State Printer, 1908), pp. 61-62.
1 22. The statue of a Union soldier, in a frock coat and at parade rest, was rescued from a salvage yard and is presently being restored by Loran Bronze, the foundry that produced the Gibbon statue.
1 23. Blake A. Magner, General John Gibbon, 1827-1896: Monument Proposal, pp. 13-14.