The battle of Gettysburg took place on July 1st, 2nd and 3rd 158 years ago. Each day decisions were made or not made that could have changed the course and the outcome of the battle. Day two those moments were frequent and the Irish Brigade was at the heart two of those moments but the most critical time would occur on July 3rd when they would man the Angle that was the focal point of Pickett’s Charge. The Irish did not flee the stone wall as two other units did and rose up to meet the first of the Confederate troops only 40 or 50 feet from the wall. The southern line was stopped and the center of the Union line held. In all the Irish Brigade lost 320 of the 540 who marched into Gettysburg. The Celtic Cross is their monument on the battlefield.