Menchey's Spring

At the foot of East Cemetery Hill

       One of the overlooked but important places at Gettysburg National Military Park is Wainwright Avenue, named for Charles Wainwright, commander of the 1st Corps Artillery, who was instrumental in the Union defense of East Cemetery Hill. If you have the time, walk down the hill  from the crest of East Cemetery Hill and walk along Wainwright Avenue. This is a road, so you'll have to watch out for the occasional car. Along this road stand  monuments to the soldiers who defended this hill when Jubal Early's troops attacked from the northeast on July 2, 1863. Here, regiments from New York, Massachusetts and Ohio confronted their attackers. The Union troops were driven back and the Confederates took over the hill for a time, but Union reinforcements arrived in time to regain the hill. General Winfield Scott Hancock, whose statue is on the crest of the hill, sent Carroll's Brigade from Cemetery Ridge to the embattled Union position.

The monument to the 41st NY Infantry and the position markers for the 68th and 54th NY Infantry stand at the bottom of the hill indicating the positions of these regiments. Just across Wainwright Avenue, which was called Brickyard Lane, and at times Winebrenner Lane, is a spring which is still bubbling with water. This spring, Menchey's Spring, provided cool refreshment to the embattled Union troops, but was also the site at which Confederate sharpshooters picked off members of the 54th NY Infantry. Lined by fences, the spring still offers a place to pause, look out across the field to Culp's Hill and remember the troops who fought here. As late as 1915, the remains of a Union soldier were found near Menchey's Spring. With only the USA buckle, buttons, and a "cap box" as identifying characteristics, it was assumed that the soldier might be a member of the 41st NY; he was buried at the National Cemetery.