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ANDREW GREGG TUCKER POST 52 G.A.R. PLINTH, LEWISBURG, PA, HONORING THE 142nd PA OFFICER KILLED AT GETTSYBURG, WITH A BATTLEFIELD PICKUP BAYONET

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This “Black Granite” plinth is painted in gold with the name of the G.A.R. post in which it was used, along with the donor’s name, and the date and location where that post’s officer  namesake was mortally wounded: July 1, 1863, at Gettysburg. This comes with what is clearly a battlefield pick-up Enfield bayonet that has no tag with it, but that may also be Gettysburg related.

Given the size of the plinth and that the slanted upper front is painted, it was probably not used as a lectern or bookrest at a podium, but could have served as a desk ornament, paperweight, or, more likely was at entryway of the post, perhaps with a portrait of the slain officer or other suitable ornament on top. The stone, diabase, dolerite, or “black granite,” was appropriate, being found here in Adams County, and the black color is fitting for a memorial to an officer who gave his life here at Gettysburg.

This measures 6” wide, 2” tall, and 3.25” back to front. The slanted, upper front surface measures about 2-1/8” top edge to lower edge. It is lettered in gold paint, faded somewhat to a yellow, with some rubs and losses to the letters, but is legible. The front, slanted surface reads: “ANDREW GREGG TUCKER” in an arc on top, with “POST / 52 G.A.R.” in two straight lines below it. The top is blank. The left end, when looking at it from the front, is painted in gold “GETTYSBURG.” The other end is painted, “JULY 1^st, 1863.”  The lettering on the ends is very good. The back is edged in gold and painted in the middle, “PRESENTED / BY C F LINDIG,” with some rubbing to the border lines, the word “BY” visible only by the impression of the paint.

The Tucker G.A.R. post was chartered at Lewisburg in 1867 with 14 original members. On October 14, 1869, it adopted the name of the “Spyker Graham Post” in honor of Sergeant Henry Spyker Graham (1809-1868,) Co. F, 2^nd PA Cavalry, who is buried in the Lewisburg Cemetery. They changed this designation to honor 1^st Lt. Andrew Gregg Tucker, also buried in the Lewisburg cemetery, on Dec. 26, 1879.

The donor, Charles F. Lindig (1835-1914) had brief service in the Civil War, some eleven days in the Pennsylvania Militia in September 1862, when the Governor called for troops in the Antietam Campaign, and another month and eleven days in the Gettysburg Campaign. He did not receive a pension, but his obituary confirms him as a member of the Tucker G.A.R. Post. He was, fittingly, a marble cutter, “one of the old school monument men,” regarded as “not only a skilled craftsman, but an artist,” and established his business in Lewisburg as “maker of monuments and tombstones” in 1859. Thus, he may also have made Tucker’s tombstone and the Tucker obelisk standing in the Lewisburg cemetery.

Born in 1844, Andrew Gregg Tucker was a graduate of the University of Lewisburg, now Bucknell. He enlisted and mustered into Co. E of the 142^nd PA as a 2^nd Lieutenant on Aug. 30, 1862, and was promoted to 1^st Lieutenant on March 21, 1863. The regiment was officially organized September 1, 1862, and left for Washington the next day, serving there until September 19, when they were sent to Frederick, MD. On October 30 they took part in the move to Falmouth and Fredericksburg, being assigned to Franklin’s “Left Grand Division,” serving in Meade’s 3^rd Division of Reynold’s 1^st Corps, in Magilton’s 2^nd Brigade along with the 3^rd, 4^th, 7^th and 8^th PA Reserves. On December 13 Meade’s division, on the Union left, led the attack on the Confederate right, held by Jackson’s forces along, lower, rolling ground. They struck a gap in the Confederate line, flanking Confederate forces in the front line, pushing beyond the railroad embankment and routing a reserve line in hand to hand fighting with one of Magilton’s regiments capturing the only Confederate flag taken in the battle, being eventually forced back by converging Confederate reinforcements, earning the area the label of the “slaughter pen,” with regiment losing 243 officers and men (16 killed, 182 wounded, and 45 captured or missing) of 550 going into the fight, a staggering 44%.

They were spared serious action and any casualties in the Chancellorsville campaign. At Gettysburg, however, as part of Biddle’s 1^st Brigade, Rowley’s 3^rd Division, of Reynolds’s 1^st Corps, they carried 336 officers and men into action on July 1, and lost 4 officers and 27 men killed or mortally wounded, another 10 officers and 100 men wounded, and 2 officers and 68 men captured or missing for a total of 211, or some 60%.

They had initially formed south of the Iron Brigade in the defense of McPherson’s Ridge, but moved forward to Willoughby Run to escape Confederate shelling, were under sharpshooter fire from the Harman farm, and later fell back to the Fairfield Road, and then moved north to form on the left rear of the Iron Brigade. One of Biddle’s regiments was drawn off to act as a reserve and the remaining three supported the four guns of Breck’s battery, with the 142^nd on the right of the line. They were attacked on the front and flanked on the left by elements of Pettigrew’s brigade and forced back, with Breck’s guns pulling back, to defend Seminary Ridge, forming a line west of Seminary Lane, with other remnants of the 1^st Corps between the Chambersburg Pike and Fairfield Road. Here they faced South Carolinians of Perrin’s brigade, who eventually flanked their line again, forcing them to pull back behind the Seminary and join the retreat. Their Colonel was mortally wounded in the fighting. The Lt. Colonel reported he could gather only 80 men on the night of July 1. The survivors were in supporting position on July 2 and on July 3, the remnants of the 142^nd were posted in support of Stannard’s Vermonters in the repulse of Pickett’s Charge.

At what point in the fighting Tucker was wounded is unclear, but he was carried into the Seminary building, which was turned into an impromptu field hospital, where he died on July 5. A secondary source quotes a fellow wounded soldier of the 142^nd recalling Tucker’s burial as he observed it from the Seminary building: “I could see into the garden,” he wrote, “they were holding the body over the grave when the head slipped over the edge of the blanket and the Lieutenant’s beautiful jet black hair dragged over the ground…it cannot be called unmanly that a few tears stole down my cheeks.” Tucker was interred next to the regiment’s Colonel, who had also died of his wounds. Tucker’s mother reportedly was among the civilians from Lewisburg who came to Gettysburg to aid the wounded and by some accounts unexpectedly came upon his body. She may well have not known his fate, and tragically discovering his grave, if not his body, might well be true. A secondary source says that he was mounted when wounded on July 1, so he may have been acting as regimental Adjutant. He was reinterred back in Lewisburg.

The bayonet with this piece is full length, with locking ring in place. It is deeply corroded and a deep, blackish brown in color. It displays very well with the black plinth and although lacking an inscription is very likely from the battlefield, making it a fit companion piece.  [sr] [ph:L]

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