Gazing through the trees along Seminary Ridge, we are granted a glimpse into the past, honored guests of courageous men of North Carolina. Had we been just north of this field at day's end July 1st, 1863, we would have witnessed the 13th North Carolina's Color Sergeant, William F. Faucett, gravely wounded during his regiment's advance towards Seminary Ridge. Following in the footsteps of the retreating Yankees and the 143rd Pennsylvania's Ben Crippen, this equally brave color bearer suffered the shattering blow of nearly having his lower right arm wrenched from his body by cannon fire. Focused on his duties, Sergeant Faucett shifted the colors he held so dear to his left arm, and continued on.

Confederate General John Brown Gordon, who led the brigade of Georgians that overwhelmed the men of the 11th Corps attempting to hold Barlow's Knoll, would later mention this gallant officer in his memoirs. "At Big Falls, North Carolina, there lived in 1897 a one-armed soldier whose heroism will be cited by orators and poets as long as heroism is cherished by men. He was a color-bearer of his regiment, the Thirteenth North Carolina. In a charge during the first day's battle at Gettysburg, his right arm, with which he bore the colors, was shivered and almost torn from its socket. Without halting or hesitating, he seized the falling flag in his left hand, and, with his blood spouting from the severed arteries and his right arm dangling in shreds at his side, he still rushed to the front, shouting to his comrades: "Forward, forward!" The name of that modest and gallant soldier is W. F. Faucette." [3]

Faucett was eventually captured and, despite the amputation by Union surgeons of his lower right arm, lived by some reports until the next century. This monument, a testament to the bravery of all of North Carolina's sons who fought here, was dedicated in 1929, the second of the Confederate State Monuments to grace this field. The monument itself is the work of Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of the faces of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and T. Roosevelt on Mt. Rushmore.