The "Gibraltar Brigade" was a famed infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 brigade

Brigade

A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

 within the Army of the Potomac

Army of the Potomac

The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Noted for its tenacity in combat, the brigade drew its nickname from the steadfastness of the Rock of Gibraltar

Rock of Gibraltar

The Rock of Gibraltar is a monolithic limestone promontory located in Gibraltar, off the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is high...

. It served in many of the leading battles of the Eastern Theater

Eastern Theater of the American Civil War

The Eastern Theater of the American Civil War included the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and the coastal fortifications and seaports of North Carolina...

, including key actions during the Battle of Gettysburg

Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...

 in July 1863 when elements of the brigade counter-attack

Counter-Attack

Counter-Attack is a 1945 war film starring Paul Muni and Marguerite Chapman as two Russians trapped in a collapsed building with seven enemy German soldiers during World War II...

ed Confederates

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 from North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 and the Louisiana Tigers

Louisiana Tigers

Louisiana Tigers was the common nickname for certain infantry troops from the state of Louisiana in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Originally applied to a specific company, the nickname expanded to a battalion, then to a brigade, and eventually to all Louisiana troops...

 on Cemetery Hill

Cemetery Hill

Cemetery Hill is a Gettysburg Battlefield landform which had 1863 military engagements each day of the July 1–3 Battle of Gettysburg. The northernmost part of the Army of the Potomac defensive "fish-hook" line, the hill is gently sloped and provided a site for American Civil War artillery...

. Another portion of the brigade helped repulse Pickett's Charge

Pickett's Charge

Pickett's Charge was an infantry assault ordered by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Union positions on Cemetery Ridge on July 3, 1863, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Its futility was predicted by the charge's commander,...

 the following day.

Through much of the war, the Gibraltar Brigade was composed of the 4th Ohio Infantry

4th Ohio Infantry

The 4th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the Eastern Theater in a number of campaigns and battles, but perhaps is most noted for its actions in helping secure Cemetery Hill during the Battle of...

, 8th Ohio Infantry

8th Ohio Infantry

The 8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the Eastern Theater in a number of campaigns and battles, but perhaps is most noted for its actions in helping repulse Pickett's Charge during the Battle of...

, 14th Indiana Infantry

14th Indiana Infantry Regiment

The 14th Indiana Infantry Regiment, otherwise known as the Gallant Fourteenth, was an Civil War infantry regiment. A part of the celebrated Gibraltar Brigade of the Army of the Potomac, the 14th helped secure Cemetery Hill during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.- Service :*The 14th Indiana was...

, and the 7th West Virginia Infantry

7th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment

The 7th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. For much of the war, it was a part of the famed "Gibraltar Brigade" in the Army of the Potomac...

. The brigade was augmented by the 24th and 28th New Jersey before the Battle of Fredericksburg

Battle of Fredericksburg

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside...

. Before the Overland Campaign

Overland Campaign

The Overland Campaign, also known as Grant's Overland Campaign and the Wilderness Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during May and June 1864, in the American Civil War. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of all Union armies, directed the actions of the Army of the...

 in early 1864, its ranks were bolstered by the addition of the 1st Delaware

1st Regiment Delaware Volunteer Infantry

The 1st Regiment Delaware Volunteer Infantry was a United States volunteer infantry regiment raised for Union Army service in the American Civil War. For part of the war, it was a part of the famed Gibraltar Brigade.-May - August 1861:...

, 12th New Jersey, and the 10th New York Battalion.

Its commanders included Nathan Kimball

Nathan Kimball

Nathan Kimball was a physician, politician, postmaster, and military officer, serving as a general in the Union army during the American Civil War...

, Samuel S. Carroll

Samuel S. Carroll

Samuel Spriggs "Red" Carroll was a career officer in the United States Army who rose to the rank of brigadier general during the American Civil War...

, and Thomas A. Smyth.

Further reading

• Baumgartner, Richard A., Buckeye Blood: Ohio at Gettysburg. Huntington, West Virginia: Blue Acorn Press, 2003. ISBN 1-885033-29-X.
• Baxter, Nancy Niblack, Gallant Fourteenth: The Story of an Indiana Civil War Regiment. Emmis Books, 1995, ISBN 0-9617367-8-X
• Lash, Gary George, The Gibraltar Brigade on East Cemetery Hill: Twenty Five Minutes of Fighting-Fifty Years of Controversy. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: Stan Clark Military Books, 1996. ISBN 0935523502.
• Reid, Whitelaw
  Whitelaw Reid
  Whitelaw Reid was a U.S. politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of a popular history of Ohio in the Civil War.-Early life:...
  
  , Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers. Volume 2. Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach, & Baldwin, 1868.