Marcellus Jones
Encyclopedia
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
(1863).
Early life
Jones was born in PoultneyPoultney (town), Vermont
Poultney is a town in Rutland County in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Vermont. New York state is on its western border. Castleton, Vermont, is on its northern border. Poultney is home to Green Mountain College, a private liberal arts college with about 820 students. The Village of...
, Rutland County, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, a son of Ephraim and Sophia (Page) Jones. In 1858, Jones moved to DuPage County Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. He lived in Danby (now Glen Ellyn), until the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
when Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
called for volunteers.
Civil War
Jones enlisted in Company E of the 8th Illinois Cavalry on August 5, 1861. He was commissioned a second lieutenant on December 5, 1862, first lieutenant July 4, 1864, and captain on October 10, 1864. All three commissions were signed by Illinois Governor Richard Yates.On July 1, 1863 at Gettysburg, Jones commanded one of the regiment's vedette
Vedette
The French military term vedette , also spelled vidette, migrated into English and other languages to refer to a mounted sentry or outpost, who has the function of bringing information, giving signals or warnings of danger, etc., to a main body of troops...
posts on the Chambersburg Pike, the road Lee's army used to march from Cashtown to Gettysburg. About 7:30 a.m., Jones noticed a cloud of dust on the road to the west, indicating that the Confederates
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
were approaching. At that point, Jones borrowed Corporal Levi S. Shafer's carbine, aimed it with the assistance of a fence rail, and fired a shot at "an officer on a white or light gray horse." His was the first of approximately one million shots that would be fired at Gettysburg over the next three days.
Honors
In 1886 a memorial was placed at the location where Jones fired the first shot of the battle. Jones was there as the memorial was established. This monument remains on the north side of U.S. Route 30U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania
In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, U.S. Route 30 runs east–west across the southern part of the state, passing through Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on its way from the West Virginia state line east to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge over the Delaware River into New Jersey...
(Chambersburg Pike) at the intersection of Knoxlyn Road.