Zook's Regiment Plunged In

General Samuel K Zook led his men in to battle on horseback July 2nd 1863.
On the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, General Daniel Sickles’ Third Corps was crumbling under Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet’s assault. It was just after 5pm when Brigadier General John C Caldwell’s division which included Brigadier General Samuel K Zook’s brigade were sent in to reinforce the line.
Zook was directed by Major Tremain; a staff officer of the Third Corps to the Wheatfield to assist Colonel Regis de Trobriand near the Stony Hill. Zook led his men up the hill on horseback, which attracted Confederate General Joseph B Kershaw’s men of the 3rd and 7th South Carolinians. His regiment plunged forward with their General. Zook was shot in the shoulder, chest and abdomen. Supported by two aids in the saddle, he was moved to the tollhouse on the Baltimore Pike, and then when it was thought the Confederate attack might work he was moved farther down the road. He would die from his wounds the next day July 3rd 1863.
There is a small monument along the Wheatfield Road in Gettysburg commemorating Zook’s death.
A great website for more information about the Battle of the Wheatfield on the second day of Gettysburg. The Wheatfield