Credit: Library of Congress
A division commander at Gettysburg under Hancock, Philadelphian John Gibbon remained in the military after the war. In 1876 Gibbon led the relief column that discovered and buried the remains of George Armstrong Custer and his men on Montana bluffs above the Little Big Horn River. At the Battle of Gettysburg, he commanded the 2nd Division, II Corps and temporarily commanded the corps on July 1 and July 2, 1863, while Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock was elevated to command larger units. At the end of the council of war on the night of July 2, army commander George G. Meade took Gibbon aside and predicted, "If Lee attacks tomorrow, it will be on your front." And his division did bear the brunt of fighting during the defense against Pickett's Charge on July 3, when Gibbon was again wounded. While recovering from his wounds, he commanded a draft depot in Cleveland, Ohio.
