Benning's Brigade - CS Brigade Tablet - Gettysburg, PA - American Civil War Monuments and Memorials on Waymarking.com

Benning’s Brigade served as a member of Hood’s Division in the First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. Brig. Gen. Henry Lewis Benning (April 2, 1814 – July 10, 1875) was a lawyer, legislator, judge on the Georgia Supreme Court, and a Confederate general during the American Civil War. He is also noted for the U.S. Army’s Fort Benning, which was named in his honor. Benning was active in Southern politics and an ardent secessionist, bitterly opposing abolition or emancipation of slaves. Following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, Benning took an active part in the state convention that voted to secede from the Union, representing Muscogee County.

The Benning's Brigade monument is on the right or east side of South Confederate Avenue if traveling north. The tablet is just south of Emmitsburg Road/Route 15 and the right turn for Bushman Lane, which is actually just before Route 15. Draw the Sword, with descriptive help from the NPS site, offers the following description: There are 64 of these bronze inscription tablets, mounted on cylindrical polished granite pedestals, to Confederate brigades. They indicate the general location of the centers of the various Confederate brigades and artillery battalions during several phases of the battle. Designed by E. B. Cope. Some of the tablets were made from melted down Civil War cannon. The tablets are 3.8 feet x 3.4 feet in dimension and rest on bases that are 6.4 feet in circumference. The overall height of these markers is 5.4 feet, and they rest on either rubble or concrete foundations. The monument consists of red circular Maine granite bases 34 1/2 inches diameter with a 3,000 pounds. On the base is mounted a 300 pound bronze tablet. The inscription on this monolith reads:

C.S.A.
Army of Northern Virginia
Longstreet's Corps Hood's Division
Benning's Brigade
2nd. 15th. 17th. 20th. Georgia Infantry
July 2 Arrived and formed line about 4 p.m. in rear of Law's and Robertson's Brigades and moving forward in support of these took prominent part in the severe conflict which resulted in the capture of Devil's Den together with a number of prisoners and three guns of the 4th New York Battery.

July 3 Held Devil's Den and the adjacent crest of Rocky Ridge until late in the evening when under orders the Brigade retired to position near here. Through mistake of orders the 15th Georgia did not retire directly but moved northward encountered a superior Union force and suffered considerable loss.

July 4 Occupied breastworks near here facing southward until midnight.

July 5 About 5 a.m. began the march to Hagerstown, Md.

Present about 1500. Losses 509.

There are nine different variations of similar monuments (not including the inverted canons which signal headquarters) for the various Confederate States & Union brigades/batteries/divisions which fought at Gettysburg. Many of the tablets are made of granite, bronze and concrete. Some are made of all iron (position tablets). 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 aforementioned varieties. The monuments were erected just after the turn of the century, continuing to the first couple of years of the second decade (1912 the latest) of the 20th century. Most been preserved (waxing or power washed) or restored since the turn of the 21st century.

Information about these specific types of monuments:
Brigade Headquarters Markers (for Union & Confederate Tablets)
Brigade Headquarters (and Confederate artillery battalions, equivalent to Union artillery brigades) are bronze tablets mounted at an angle on a stone pedestal. They are the most numerous headquarters at Gettysburg, with over 70 Union and over 60 Confederate examples on the field. Union headquarters are marked with their corps or service branch symbol (like a cross, clover or crescent moon), while Confederate headquarters are simply labeled "C.S.A.". There are seventy-four brigade markers at Gettysburg honoring the AOP’s various brigades. (Other sources say there are 75). They were built by Albert Russell & Sons Co. of Newburyport, Massachusetts and Charles Kappes. The pedestals consist of sea-green granite with a square 36” x 36” base; they weigh 3500 pounds. On each pedestal is mounted a bronze tablet with rounded corners weighing 300 pounds. There are sixty-four brigade markers honoring the Army of North Virginia's various brigades. They were built by Van Amringe Granite Company (pedestals), Albert Russell & Sons Co., Newburyport, Mass (tablets) and Charles Kappes (foundations). The last was completed in December 1910. The 1910 date is disputed by other sites listing the end dates as 1912. The monuments consist of red circular Maine granite bases 34 1/2 inches diameter and weighing 3,000 pounds. On each base is mounted a 300 pound bronze tablet. SOURCE & SOURCE

The Benning's Brigade - CS Brigade Tablet is a contributing feature to the Gettysburg National Military Park Historic District which is nationally significant under NR Criteria A, B, C & D. 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. The tablet is designated as contributing structure number MN703.

From the nomination form:

Short Physical Description:

Bronze inscription tablet, 3'8"x3'4", mounted at a slant on circular, polished pedestal, 6'4" in circumference, 5'4" high.

Long Description:

There are 64 of these bronze inscription tablets, mounted on cylindrical polished granite pedestals. They indicate the general location of the centers of the various Confederate brigades and artillery battalions during several phases of the battle. Designed by E. B. Cope. Some of the tablets were made from melted down Civil War cannon. The tablets are 3.8 feet x 3.4 feet in dimension and rest on bases that are 6.4 feet in circumference. The overall height of these markers is 5.4 feet, and they rest on either rubble or concrete foundations.

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