William H. Lytle Memorial Shell Monument - Chickamauga National Military Park
Posted by: 
Lat34North
N 34° 54.753 W 085° 16.187
16S E 658061 N 3864711
Monument to Brig. Gen. William H. Lytle, killed at the battle of Chickamauga on September, 20, 1863. Located 1/8 of a mile off of Glenn-Kelly road.
Waymark Code: WMDQ84
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 02/13/2012
Views: 3
Monument to Brig. Gen.
William Haines Lytle, killed at the
Battle of Chickamauga on September, 20, 1863.
William H. Lytle
Brig. Gen. U.S.A.
Commanding 1st Brigade,
Sheridan’s Division
Killed here about noon
Sept. 20, 1863
Monument is a triangle of cannonballs, painted black with a blue plaque indicating USA. This monument differs from most other monuments to offices killed at Chickamauga in that it is only 1 cannon ball in height rather than the normal 15 cannon balls high.
Direction sign next to the road.
From Wikipedia
William Haines Lytle
"William Haines Lytle (November 2, 1826 – September 20, 1863) was a politician in Ohio, renowned poet, and military officer in the United States Army during both the Mexican-American War and American Civil War, where he was killed in action as a brigadier general."
"William Lytle was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia while leading a counterattack on horseback. Once his identity was known, respectful Confederates placed a guard around his body, and many recited his poetry over their evening campfires. The hill where he died is now known as "Lytle Hill" in the Chickamauga National Military Park."
"His Funeral was held in the early afternoon at Christ Church on Fourth Street in Cincinnati. So many people lined the streets that the funeral cortege did not reach the Spring Grove Cemetery until dusk. General Lytle's monument, one of the most impressive ones there, is near the entrance to the cemetery. It stands tall and might with an eagle on the top with a picture of the war he died in."
From the NRHP nomination form:
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Structure Number: |
MT-452(see note) |
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LCS ID: |
003272 |
Historical Significance:
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National Register Status:
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Entered - Documented
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National Register Date:
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10/15/1966
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National Historic Landmark?: |
No
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Significance Level:
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Contributing
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Short Significance Description:
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The marker contributes to the national significance of the park under NR Criterion A because it represents the national movement among veterans to commemorate Civil War battlefields. This was the first U.S. national military park.
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Short Physical Description
14'10" per side and 2' high, the monument consists of a triangular limestone base topped by a layer of cannonballs (all that remains of pyramid) set in cement & painted black. Attached to balls is a painted metal plaque identifying the site.
Long Physical Description
Monument located within the Chickamauga Battlefield in the woods north of the intersection of Glenn-Kelly & Vittetoe Roads, map site #186.
To date, no record has been located to explain what happen to this monument or when it happened. It has been surmised by Park Staff that at some point this monument was vandalized and several cannon shells were stolen. At that time, it was decided that they would not rebuild the monument (perhaps because they did not have any more original 8-inch shells available). Instead, they altered the monument to its current configuration.
Material(s)
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Structural Component(s)
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Material(s)
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1.
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Superstructure
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Limestone
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2.
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Superstructure
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Concrete
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3.
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Substructure
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Concrete
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4.
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Superstructure
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Iron
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Construction Period:
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Historic
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Chronology:
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Physical Event
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Begin Year
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Begin Year AD/BC
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End Year
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End Year AD/BC
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Designer
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Designer Occupation
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1.
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Built
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1893
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AD
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Betts, E. E.
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Engineer
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My Sources
1.
NRHP
2. Wikipedia -
Battle of Chickamauga
3. Wikipedia -
William Haines Lytle
Note
Trailhead Graphics, Inc. has produced a map of the Chickamauga Battlefield showing the locations of all of the monuments and the markers on the battlefield. Each location on the map has a number associated with it that cross-references to an index on the back of the map that has the name of the marker (called the Chick-Chatt NMP monument numbering system). This number corresponds to the structure Number listed on the NPS List of Classified Structures that is normally prefixed with the letters MT for the Chickamauga Battlefield.