Chapman Biddle Chapman Biddle ( January 22 , 1822 – December 29 , 1880 ) was a member of the prominent Biddle family of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , who rose to fame as an officer in the Union Army in the American Civil War . He commanded a brigade of infantry at the Battle of Gettysburg . Early life . Chapman Biddle was born in Pennsylvania on January 22 , 1822 , and was educated in Philadelphia . He studied law , passed his bar exam , and established a private practice before the outbreak of the war . Civil War . Biddle was commissioned colonel of the 121st Pennsylvania Regiment , which was organized in Philadelphia . The regiment was mustered into the service on September 1 , 1862 , and joined the Army of the Potomac in October . It was held in reserve at the time of the Battle of Antietam ; but it served at the Battle of Fredericksburg alongside the Pennsylvania Reserves , losing 149 casualties in an attack on the Confederate right flank . Biddle participated in the Battle of Chancellorsville in the Third Division of I Corps . Biddle assumed command of the 1st Brigade , 3rd Division before the Battle of Gettysburg began on July 1 , 1863 . The assignment of Maj . Gen . John F . Reynolds as commander of the army ’ s left wing led to acting promotion of brigade commander Brig . Gen . Thomas A . Rowley to command of the division while Maj . Gen . Abner Doubleday led the corps . Colonel Biddle led the four regiments of the brigade in the first day ’ s fighting on McPherson ' s Ridge and the subsequent withdrawal to Cemetery Ridge . His report on the first day ’ s fighting describes the brigade ’ s fighting as taking place under heavy artillery fire . When the brigade was flanked by Confederate infantry , Biddle led an unsuccessful counterattack . Later he received a head wound from a spent Minié ball when Col . Abner Perrin ' s brigade attacked the brigade ' s fall - back position on Seminary Ridge . Biddle had his head bandaged , and then returned to his troops . Returning to his regiment on July 2 , after Rowley resumed brigade command , Biddle participated in the repulse of Pickett ' s Charge . By the end of the battle , only 84 of 263 soldiers were left in the ranks . Biddle played no role in the court - martial of General Rowley for being drunk on the field at Gettysburg . In fact , he never referred to Rowley ' s role in the battle in anything he wrote during or after the war . Biddle led the 121st Pennsylvania though most of the summer and autumn of 1863 , including most of the Bristoe Campaign and the Mine Run Campaign , before being discharged on December 10 , 1863 . His head wound , received at Gettysburg , eventually led to Biddle ' s departure from active service . His old regiment remained in service to the end of the war , being mustered out on June 2 , 1865 . Postbellum activities . After leaving the army , Biddle was a counsel serving the administration of Philadelphia . He was involved in creating the city ’ s Fairmount Park . He also published an account of the first day of the battle of Gettysburg a few months before his death . In it he makes no mention of the Rowley court martial . Chapman Biddle died on December 29 , 1880 , and was buried in the churchyard of Church of St . James the Less in Philadelphia . A brigade tablet for Biddle ’ s brigade stands alongside Reynolds Avenue in the section of the Gettysburg National Military Park on McPherson ’ s Ridge . Historical Society of Pennsylvania , on the 8th of March , 1880 " , Philadelphia : Lippincott , 1880 .