New Jersey State Monument - Sharpsburg, MD - Freestanding Columns on Waymarking.com

Dedicated on September 17, 1903, the State of New Jersey Monument at Antietam is on the corner of Hagerstown Turnpike and Cornfield Avenue. This monument honors all the New Jersey troops that fought at Antietam. Each of the six sides at the base of the column represents one of the New Jersey regiments at the battle. This popular site is a scene of very tall & large monuments and can be congested at times. Your best bet is to find a place to pull over and just walk around a bit, allowing time to take it all in. Known for big hair and apparently big monuments, New Jersey's monument can not be missed and is an oft used landmark of the battlefield.

Although Antietam with its Pennsylvania monuments, are well-represented with full-length military figures (infantry men, cavalry) topping their monuments, the New Jersey State monument contributes well to this reputation, too. Standing over 7 feet tall, the figure atop the monument represents Captain Hugh C. Irish of the 13th New Jersey Infantry Regiment, who led Company K of the regiment into battle at Antietam. and who was killed not too far from this site. While leading these men from the East Woods across the Cornfield and the Hagerstown Pike (now Dunker Church Road), Capt. Irish was mortally wounded by Confederate rifle fire.

The sculpture is bronze and very green. Irish wields his sword over his head with his proper right hand, his left at his side, slightly raised, finger curled. He is wearing his military uniform, scabbard secured to his proper left side. He wears the traditional cap of a soldier. The feet rest upon a perfectly round and equally bronze base no more than a foot high. Beneath that a matching, circular, granite base, slightly taller, matching up perfectly with the one above it. Beneath this is the square, capital of the columns, and underneath the column itself, leading down to the base. The Barre granite shaft is approximately 23 feet tall and seamless. The base has six 'petals' extending outward, each with steps leading up to a viewing area of the six bronze panels, describing the six NJ detachments which fought here in September of 1862. The six units were: 1st New Jersey Infantry, 2nd New Jersey Infantry, 3rd New Jersey Infantry, 4th New Jersey Infantry, 13th New Jersey Infantry and New Jersey Light Artillery, Battery A. All of these units have identical panels (describing their deeds and actions) have an accompanying bronze corps badge, the cross of the VI Corps, over each tablet (flush with the granite). The 13th N.J. Infantry monument however, has the star badge of the XII Corps.

The sculpture is approximately 7 feet high with a width of about 2.5 feet. The base is approximately 23 in height and the base is about 12 feet² . The sculpture of the soldier is composed of bronze with the base constructed of Barre granite. The following were employed in its construction: Moretti, Giuseppe, 1857-1935, sculptor; Walling, James H., contractor; Meeker, John L., architect; Meeker, William P., architect; Gorham Manufacturing Company, founder. The monument was dedicated Sept. 17, 1903 by the State of New Jersey in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt. The multi-sided inscription on this memorial lists the complete service history of all six units and reads as follows:

Thirteenth New Jersey Infantry
Colonel Ezra A. Carman, Comanding
Third Brigade, First Division
Twelfth Corps
—————
Here this regiment, seventeen days after leaving home, met "its Baptism of fire," September 17, 1862. The first to fall was Captain Hugh C. Irish, later in the day the regiment was heavily engaged in rear of Dunkard Church, its loss during the day was 102. In the Army of the Potomac, and afterwards with General Sherman's Army, the Regiment served until the close of the war.

First New Jersey Infantry
Lieut. Col. Mark W. Collett, Commanding
First Brigade, First Division
Sixth Corps.
————
The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th New Jersey Infantry and Hexamer's Battery A, were known as the "First New Jersey Brigade." These were the first three year volunteers from the State. After serving through the peninsula campaign the Brigade on Sept. 14, 1862 performed such gallant service at Crampton's Pass as to call forth the high commendation reproduced on the next tablet.

Second New Jersey Infantry
Colonel Samuel L. Buck, Commanding
First Brigade, First Division
Sixth Corps
————
Headquarters, 1st, Brigade, 1st Division
Sixth Corps, Camp in Crampton's Pass
Maryland Sept. 15, 1862.
General Orders Soldiers of the first New Jersey Brigade. The 14th of September, 1862, is one long to be remembered, for on that day you dashingly met and drove the enemy at every point, your advance in line of battle, under a galling Artillery fire was a feat seldom if ever surpassed. The Heights you took show plainly what determined and well disciplined soldiers can do.
(Continued on next Tablet)

Third New Jersey Infantry
Colonel Henry W. Brown, Commanding
First Brigade, First Division
Sixth Corps
————
(Continued)
"You have sustained the reputation of your state and done credit to your officers and yourselves. While we lament the death of our brave comrades who have fallen so gloriously we can only command their souls to God and their sorrowing friend to his sure protection. May you go from Victory to Victory, is the hope and wish of the Colonel commanding Brigade."
A.T.A. Tolbert
Colonel Commanding
(See Next Tablet)

4th New Jersey Infantry
Colonel William B. Hatch, Commanding
First Brigade, First Division
Sixth Corps
————
(Continued)
From its Bivouac at Crampton's Pass the first New Jersey Brigade marched to the field on the morning of September 17, 1862, and took position 600 yards, easterly of this point near the Dunkard Church, where it remained until Sept. 19. It supported the sixth Corps Artillery and for six hours was under severe Artillery fire by which several men were killed or wounded.

Battery A,
First New Jersey Artillery
Captain William Hexamer, Commanding
First Brigade, First Division
Sixth Corps
————
After engagement at Crampton's Pass Sept. 14, 1862, the Battery was engaged on Sept. 17, at three different points on this field. From three to six o'clock the Battery fired 280 shells, 200 shrapnel and 15 canisters, forcing out of position two Confederate Batteries and repelling an Infantry force.

Erected by the state of New Jersey in grateful remembrance of her gallant sons who fought on this field Sept. 17, 1862.
——————
Dedicated Sept. 17, 1905
—————
Governor
Franklin Murphy (13th N.J. Inf.)
—————
Commissioners
James O. Smith (13th N.J. Inf.)
Joseph E. Crowell (13th N.J. Inf.)
John J. Toffey (33rd N.J. Inf.)

From 1890s to 1960s veterans’ organizations erected monuments to commemorate the people and actions associated with the Battle of Antietam (16-18 September 1862). The New Jersey State Monument contributes to the National Register District under Criterion A with the period of significance 1800-1899. The monument is designated as structure number 019.

The New Jersey State Monument (1903) is significant under Criterion A because of its association with the commemoration of the Battle of Antietam. The monuments and markers at Antietam represent a wide sampling of late 19th and early 20th century military memorialization from the period when such monumentation was in its heyday.

The New Jersey State Monument is dedicated to those members of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd 4th, and 13th New Jersey Infantries as well as Hexamer's Battery A that served and died during the Battle of Antietam on 17 September 1862. Captain Hugh C. Irish, the commander of the 13th New Jersey Infantry, is also memorialized by the bronze statue at the top of the monument.

Captain Irish was the 30-year-old leader of Company "K" Thirteenth New Jersey Volunteers. He died at Antietam on 17 September 1862. The Regiment had marched through a wood till it came to a fenced open field, beyond which the rebels had a masked battery. As the Jerseymen reached the open field and saw the enemy beyond, Captain Irish impetuously leaped the fence and called on his company to follow. The rebel battery was unmasked on the crown of the hill at the other side of the field. The Regiment was mowed down and forced back by a resistless volley of grape and canister, one of the first to fall was Irish, shot through the heart. He was killed near the location of the New Jersey State Monument.

The monument was designed by sculptors James Wallings of New York and John L. Meeker and W. Passmore of Newark, New Jersey. The same group of sculptors provided the seven additional markers to the New Jersey troops on the battlefield. The New Jersey State Monument was dedicated on 17 September 1903.

The New Jersey State Monument was 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. It is one of eight total monuments and markers to the New Jersey troops.

From the NRHP Narrative
Short Physical Description
The NJ State Monument is made is located on the N side of Cornfield Ave. It consists of a stepped, circular foundation supporting a hexagonal pedestal bearing six bronze plaques and tall column. A bronze soldier with a sword stands atop the column. The whole monument measures between 30’-40’ tall.

The New Jersey State Monument is located to the NE of the intersection of Hagerstown Pk and Cornfield Ave. It consists of a granite foundation, pedestal, and column topped with a bronze statue of Captain Hugh C. Irish. The base of the monument takes the form of a circle and is stepped to a hexagonal pedestal that bears six bronze plaques, each dedicated to an individual brigade.

Long Physical Description
Above the pedestal is a smooth granite column whose capital bears a bronze statue of Captain Irish. His right hand is raised above his head, holding a sword. The monument stands between 30’-40’ tall. It was designed by John L. and W. Passmore Meeker in Newark, NJ and James Wallings of New York. The same firm provided the markers for the battlefield.

(The rest of the long description merely is a recitation of the text, already found above.)