Long Description:
The monument is also known as the Battery B, 4th U.S. Artillery Tablet. Campbell's brigade hierarchy was 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps. The marker is on the right or east side of Dunker Church Road/Hagerstown Pike if traveling north, at the south edge of the North Woods. These Union tablets are included in the Antietam Campaign War Department Markers marker series. The markers are made of cast iron with a concrete sub structure. The tablets are 12 square feet, black, with white, raised letters. This tablet reads:
U.S.A.
First Army Corps.
Anderson's Brigade, Meade's Division
Lieut. Col. Robert Anderson, 9th Penn. Reserve,
Commanding.
Organization.
9th, 10th,11th, and 12th Pennsylvania Reserves.
(September 17, 1862.)
Anderson's Brigade advanced from the North Woods about 6:30 a.m. in support of Doubleday's Division engaged on either side of the road south of this point. Midway between the North Woods and D.R. Miller's, the 10th regiment crossed the road moving west about 700 yards became engaged with the enemy's skirmishers and the artillery of Stuart's cavalry command. The three remaining regiments formed line with the right resting on the road at this point. A charge of the enemy to the north edge of the cornfield was repulsed and the Brigade advanced to the cornfield. The 9th Regiment going through the corn to its south edge, the center and left about midway into the corn, when it was checked by the advance of a Confederate line and fell back, after which Anderson withdrew to the North Woods, where he was rejoined by the 10th Regiment and served as a reallying point for Sedgwick's Division, Second Corps. The Brigade then moved to the rear of the high ground north of Joseph Poffenberger's.
Between 1896 and 1898 to commemorate the Battle of Antietam, September 16-18, 1862, the War Department erected tablets describing Confederate and Union actions of the battle. These tablets contribute to the National Register under Criterion A and are within the period of significance, 1800-1899. The monument is classified as contributing structure number TAB-031.
From the nomination form:
In the 1880s, interest in visiting and memorializing battlefields by aging veterans was on the rise. The first indication of this increase in battlefield visits was in 1888 when a macadam road bed and sidewalk system was constructed by the War Department from the cemetery and battlefield site to the Antietam railroad station in Sharpsburg.
A Congressional Act passed in 1890 authorized dedication of the park. Field surveys of the battlefield by the War Department recorded the progression of the battle of both Union and Confederate armies, through tablets constructed in 1896-1898.
Both the Antietam National Battlefield Site and National Cemetery were transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service in 1933. In 1934, the battlefield was less than 50 acres; it has greatly increased to a present acreage of 3,199 acres. With the authorization of the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the Union and Confederate War Department Tablets were listed on the National Register on October 15, 1966, with a confirmation National Register form updated and approved by the Keeper on February 10, 1982.
During the 1996 LCS survey, Determinations of Eligibility (DOE) were completed on the war tablets. This was unnecessary, as the tablets were listed on the National Register by means of the act.
Short Physical Description
Union Tablet No. 031 is a 35” x 47” cast-iron painted tablet that is 1/2" thick with a 1" raised border, which is set on a metal a 3-1/2" diameter post. A historical description of the troop’s movement is cast into the tablet.
Union Tablet No. 031 is located on the east side of Old Hagerstown Pike between the D.R. Miller House and Cornfield Avenue.
Long Physical Description
The cast text on Union Tablet No. 031 states: “U.S.A. / FIRST ARMY CORPS./ ANDERSON’S BRIGADE, MEADE’S DIVISON,/ LIEUT. COL. ROBERT ANDERSON, 9TH PENN. RESERVE, / COMMANDING./ ORGANIZATION./ 9TH, 10TH, 11TH AND 12TH PENNSYLVANIA RESERVES./ (SEPTEMBER 17, 1862.)/ ANDERSON’S BRIGADE ADVANCED FROM THE NORTH WOODS ABOUT 6:30 A.M. IN/ SUPPORT OF DOUBLEDAY’S DIVISION ENGAGED ON EITHER SIDE OF THE ROAD SOUTH/ OF THIS POINT, MIDWAY BETWEEN THE NORTH WOODS AND D.R. MILLER’S, THE 10TH / REGIMENT CROSSED THE ROAD AND MOVING WEST ABOUT 700 YARDS BECAME EN-/ GAGED WITH THE ENEMY’S SKIRMISHERS AND THE ARTILLERY OF STEWART’S CAVALRY/ COMMAND. THE THREE REMAINING REGIMENTS FORMED LINE WITH THE RIGHT REST-/ ING ON THE ROAD AT THIS POINT. A CHARGE OF THE ENEMY TO THE NORTH EDGE/ OF THE CORNFIELD WAS REPULSED AND THE BRIGADE ADVANCED TO THE CORNFIELD. / THE 9TH REGIMENT GOING THROUGH THE CORN TO ITS SOUTH EDGE, THE CENTER/ AND LEFT ABOUT MIDWAY INTO THE CORN, WHEN IT WAS CHECKED BY THE ADVANCE/ OF A CONFEDERATE LINE AND FELL BACK, AFTER WHICH ANDERSON WITHDREW TO/ THE NORTH WOODS, WHERE HE WAS REJOINED BY THE 10TH REGIMENT AND SERVED/ AS A RALLYING POINT FOR SEDGWICK’S DIVISION, SECOND CORPS. THE BRIGADE THEN/ MOVED TO THE REAR OF THE HIGH GROUND NORTH OF JOSEPH POFFENBERGER’S.”
My Source
1.
NRHP Nomination Form
2.
Stone Sentinels
3.
Virtual Antietam
4.
Historical Marker Database
5.
The Battle of Antietam on the Web
