Battery B, 4th US Artillery - US Regulars Tablet - Gettysburg, PA
N 39° 50.140 W 077° 14.752
18S E 307825 N 4411931
Another beautiful site along the historic Lincoln Highway, better known as Chambersburg PIke in these parts. 1 of 45 Civil War US Regular Tablets in Park. Locates position occupied by Stewart's Battery B during Battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863.
Waymark Code: WMBPN0
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 06/10/2011
Views: 1
One of 42 monuments erected to units of the United States regular army on the battlefield. Monument consists of polished Jonesboro granite, 24 by 50 inches and 7 feet high, set upon concrete foundations, and upon each is fastened a descriptive bronze tablet and the coat of arms of the United States. The monument is along Chambersburg Pike, better known as the Lincoln HIghway. It is on the grounds of the Quality Inn, just across from the stone house which served as Lee's Headquarters during the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1 to 3, 1863.
There are actually two of these monuments. The two monuments to Battery B are on the Gettysburg battlefield. One is on Chambersburg Pike near Seminary Ridge (this waymark) and the other on East Cemetery Hill across from the Cemetery Gatehouse (Baltimore Pike). They have slightly different inscriptions.
The monument was built in 1907 and finished and erected in 1908 (according to the NRHP nomination form, the HMDB has it as 1912) by the Gettysburg National Military Park Commission. There are scores of similar monuments for the various Confederate States brigades which fought at Gettysburg. Many of the tablets were created by Albert Russell & Sons Co. of Newburyport, Massachusetts (could not verify) and is made of granite, bronze and concrete. All of these tablets were designed by architect E.B. Cope. He designed pretty much every tablet for both the Union and Confederate armies, each one distinct, with several different varieties. This is a big granite slab, rough cut on the hedges, smooth front and back, coming to a peak at the top like a gable.
The tablet reads:
Army of the Potomac
First Corps
Artillery Brigade
Battery B Fourth U.S. Artillery
Six 12 pounders
Lieut. James Stewart commanding
July 1 In position about 200 yards south of the Lutheran Theological Seminary until 3 p.m. when ordered to support the Second Division First Corps and took position on Seminary Ridge half of the Battery in command of Lieut. James Davidson between the Chambersburg Pike and Railroad cut. The other half north of the cut in corner of the woods was actively engaged. The Battery afterwards retired with the troops to Cemetery Hill and went into position on the Baltimore Pike opposite Evergreen Cemetery commanding the approach from the town two guns on the pike and two in the field two having been disabled.
Casualties killed 2 men, wounded 2 officers and 29 men, missing 3 men. Total 36.
The Battery B, 4th US Artillery - US Regulars Tablet is a contributing feature to the Gettysburg National Military Park Historic District which is nationally significant under NR Criteria A, B, C & D for association Areas of Significance: Military, Politics/Government, Landscape Architecture, Conservation, Archeology-Historic. Period of Significance: 1863-1938. The original National Register Nomination was approved by the Keeper March 19, 1975. An update to this nomination was approved by the Keeper on January 23, 2004. It is listed as structure number MN675-B.
From the Gettysburg National Military Park Historic District nomination form:
Short Physical Description:
MN & 2 cannons. Red granite monolith w/rough-hewn sides & back, 4'2"x2', 7" high. Gable top. Bronze inscription tablet, 3'6"x3'7", mounted on polished face. Located N of Chambersburg Pike, E of Doubleday Avenue Extended.
Long Physical Description
Only cannon pads remain.
My Sources
1.
Draw the Sword
2.
NRHP Narrative
3.
Virtual Gettysburg
4.
Historical Marker Database
5.
Stone Sentinels