Tennessee at Gettysburg

The Tennessee monument at Gettysburg is one of my favorite monuments on the battlefield. I don't know why, but I really like the "feel" that I get for this particular monument. On the front are three Tennessee soldiers and this saying: "Valor and Courage were virtues of the three Tennessee Regiments." Also, the base is 16 feet long....Tennessee was the 16th state in the Union and the base is shaped like Tennessee. All....very cool.

On the back of the monument it says:

The Volunteer State

This memorial is dedicated to the memory of the men who served in the 1st (PACS), 7th, and 14th Tennessee Infantry Regiment Archer's Brigade Heth's Division 3rd Army Corps Army of Northern Virginia. They fought and died for their convictions, performing their duty as they understood it.

It then goes on to give some statistics about the casualties. But I have a few questions about this monument. I've tried to find answers but so far....nothing. 1st....What is a PACS? All I've been able to find out is that the 1st Tennessee was a provisional regiment. Well, that would explain the "P"...but what does the rest of it mean? 2nd...."performing their duty as they understood it"....huh? I realized that this monument is a more recent monument...placed on the field in the last 20 years or so....but what is this supposed to mean. Performing their duty as they understood it????? Duty was VERY important to the men of the Civil War era. They did what they had to do for their country. But to supplement that with "as they understood it" makes no sense. They did what they HAD to do....whether it was understood or not. But why was that added? It almost makes it sound like they were wrong but didn't realize that they were wrong. These men did what THEY felt was right....regardless of how people feel today. These 7 words are really bothering me. Maybe I'm reading more into it than I should....but it just doesn't sit well with me and I need to find some answers.

Regardless of what the monument says, I will always admire the three regiments of the state of Tennessee. They can be proud of who they were and what they did.