In the early morning of July 3, 1863, Wade was in the kitchen of her sister's home. She was making biscuits and bread for Union soldiers. A bullet came through two doors and hit Wade. It went through her left shoulder blade and through her heart. It stopped in her corset. She was killed instantly. Nobody knows which side fired the shot. Some writers say it was an unknown Confederate soldier. Jennie Wade was the only Gettysburg civilian killed directly during the Battle of Gettysburg.