Description of New Jersey Brigade

Atop a wooded knoll overlooking the George Weikert farm, the forty foot "watchtower" of the 1st New Jersey brigade was erected twenty-five years after the battle of Gettysburg. During the fighting on this end of the field, the brigade, consisting of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 15th New Jersey Infantry regiments, remained in reserve, ready to participate in defending the line wherever needed.

The brigade's Veteran's Association purchased the entire Weikert farm to preserve the positions the units held during the battle. Rather than erect individual regimental monuments to each one, the large tower design was chosen to commemorate the services of all. The site selected was a point located in the rear of the center of the brigade's battle line. The illusion of a tower is heightened by the columns on each side which hint at an entranceway. Window-like embrasures on the side and around the top enhances this image. Each course of the tower consists of a single stone seven feet in diameter. On either side of the shaft are bronze medallions honoring two of the unit's commanders: General Philip Kearny, the original organizer of the brigade, and General Alfred T.A. Torbert, its commander duing the battle. The contract for erecting the watchtower also included small, individual markers to note the approximate position of each unit on July 3. These can be found at the base of the little knoll on which the brigade monument stands today.

Location: Sedgwick Avenue

Dedication: June 30,1888

Cost: $5,700

Designer Contractor: New England Monument Co. Bureau Brothers

Material: Gettysburg Granite

Quincy Granite

Hallowell Granite

Standard Bronze