44th New York Monument

The 44th and 12th New York Infantry Monument is a Gettysburg Battlefield memorial erected near the summit of Little Round Top to commemorate combat in the Battle of Little Round Top. The castellated building is the largest monument to a regiment on the battlefield, is the 1st of only 2 Battle of Gettysburg memorials with observation decks, and supplemented the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association wooden towers on Big Round Top and East Cemetery Hill. The July 3, 1893, memorial dedication was the site of an altercation against photographer William H. Tipton by Gen. Sickles, who was served a court writ the following day and was forced out of the New York Monuments Commission in 1912 after malfeasance.

Description

The tower is tall, is the oldest on the battlefield and has a spiral staircase to the 2nd floor observation deck with parapets. The memorial is crowned with a maltese cross and has numerous interior and exterior bronze tablets which include 2 bas-reliefs of Generals Daniel Butterfield and Francis C. Barlow. The ground level landing has 2 arched entrances with steps at the end of paved pathways from the Sykes Avenue parking lot. On the south slope above the saddle between the Little and Big Round Tops, the west side is maintained free of trees to allow clear viewing of Devil's Den, the Slaughter Pen, and the Valley of Death with Plum Run.