Gettysburg 'first shot' monument replica coming to St. Charles
Inspired by local ties to the Civil War, a monument signifying the first shot fired in the Battle of Gettysburg is being replicated at the historic Camp Kane in St. Charles.
The camp, at Langum Park, 999 S. Seventh St., served as a Civil War training site for the 8th Illinois Cavalry. The regiment's Company E was one of the first Union troops on the field for the famous 1863 battle - and its Lt. Marcellus Jones of Wheaton is credited for firing the first shot, said Kim Malay, president of the Camp Kane Heritage Foundation.
Jones and other soldiers from Company E had the original "First Shot" marker created and brought to Gettysburg in 1882.
Despite some controversy surrounding which regiment actually fired the shot, she said, the National Park Service now officially recognizes the 8th Illinois Cavalry as the unit responsible.
"That monument stands for the fact that they were the ones that started that battle," Malay said. "It really holds a lot of significance to the regiment and to the camp."
The duplicated marker at Camp Kane is being donated by Sandwich resident James Fraley and his family, descendants of Company E bugler Morgan Hughes who was with Jones when the first shot was fired. Fraley had to get special approval from the National Park Service to cast the replica, Malay said.
The monument will be unveiled at 2 p.m. Aug. 11 during a special dedication ceremony. Foundation members will give a brief overview of the marker's history and will be available to answer questions, Malay said.
"We really do feel it is our mission to make sure that history is known," she said. "It's so underplayed."
Camp Kane became a historic landmark in April 2015, eight months after St. Charles rededicated the city-owned land. The training grounds once belonged to abolitionist John Farnsworth, who commissioned the 8th Illinois Cavalry with permission from President Abraham Lincoln.
The city also paid to relocate what was once the law office of Steven Jones, the first attorney in the Fox Valley, to the Camp Kane campus. That building, also a landmark, was used as a holding cell for deserters during the Civil War, Malay said.
Pending available funding, the foundation now is pushing forward a comprehensive plan to create additional pathways, improve accessibility and build an outdoor education center on the campus, she said. Eventually, she hopes to reconstruct the former Farnsworth Mansion and create an interactive Civil War and Underground Railroad museum.
"We're a small but mighty group," Malay said. "We want to make sure, even if nothing else happens out here, that the camp is protected."