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 A Savage Continual Thunder - Sharpsburg, MD
N 39° 28.488 W 077° 44.728
18S E 263844 N 4373066
More than 500 cannon were used at the Battle of Antietam. Because of the destructiveness of these weapons, the battle was nicknamed "Artillery Hell" by soldiers. This interpretive & the one next to it offers insight into the hell that was Antietam.
Waymark Code: WMDCXC
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 12/26/2011
Views: 6
The background of the marker is a wartime photo of a battery deployed for action. Pictured here is Captain Joseph Knap's Independent Battery "E" Pennsylvania Light Artillery. After Col. S.D. Lee's Confederate artillery was forced from this high ground, Union infantry and artillery, including Knap's Battery, advanced to this position. Two of Knap's cannons moved across the Hagerstown Turnpike and into the West Woods, where one of his guns was captured. After the battle, the artillerymen posed in battery position for Alexander Gardner's camera
This interpretive is to the left of the visitor center if you are looking at it. It is next to an artillery display of four guns/cannons. There is another interpretive next to it on an angle. The sign looks fairly new, held horizontally in a great, thick, black metal frame. The marker was erected in 2009 by Antietam National Battlefield - National Park Service - U.S. Department of the Interior. The waysides were moved to a new location in September 2009. They were originally at the other end of the cannon/gun display.
The marker reads:
At Antietam, the open and rolling terrain benefited the artillerymen of both armies. By placing their cannon on high ground, Blue and Gray alike were able to effectively strike enemy troop positions at great distances. Over 500 cannon thundered across the landscape for over twelve hours.
The Artillery was a separate, specialized branch of the army that supported the infantry. The basic organizational unit for artillery was called a battery. It consisted of four to six cannons with approximately 70-100 men and was commanded by a Captain.
There are many models and sizes of Civil War cannon, but there are two basic types - smoothbore and rifled. A smoothbore cannon barrel is just like a pipe, smooth on the inside. In contrast, a rifled cannon has spiral grooves cut into the inside of the barrel, which forces the ammunition to rotate like a football. It is more accurate and has a greater range than a smoothbore gun. The four cannon displayed here represent the majority of the artillery used in this battle. The two right guns are made of bronze and are smoothbore, the two left guns are made of iron and are rifled.
Group that erected the marker: Antietam National Battlefield - National Park Service - U.S. Department of the Interior
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Antietam National Battlefield Visitor Center
Dunker Church Road / Old Hagerstown Pike
Sharpsburg, MD USA
21782
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Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the marker, preferably including yourself or your GPSr in the photo. A very detailed description of your visit may be substituted for a photo. In any case please provide a description of your visit. A description of only "Visited" or "Saw it while on vacation" by anyone other than the person creating the waymark may be deleted by the waymark owner or the category officers.
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