Ross's Georgia Battery - CS Battery Marker - Gettysburg, PA
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Math Teacher
N 39° 49.165 W 077° 14.822
18S E 307680 N 4410130
There are about a 100 of these tablets about the park. This Civil War tablet marks the position of Ross's CS Battery on July 2-4, 1863 & narrates events associated w/ Battery during Battle. Three unmarked rifles and one cannon surround the tablet.
Waymark Code: WMEJRX
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 06/05/2012
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member QuesterMark
Views: 4

This Battery was part of Lane’s Battalion which served as a member of R.H. Anderson’s Division in the Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. The artillery battery was commanded by Captain Hugh M. Ross. I was unable to find any details about this man. Presumably he died in service which would account for no record of his post-war activities.

The Ross's Georgia Battery - CS Battery Marker is located on West Confederate Avenue, on the left or east side if traveling south southwest, just south of McMillan Woods; the monument faces a westerly direction. There are four cannons at the tablet site which are supposed to represent the battery and the armaments used by them during the battle. The cannons/rifles/guns and tablets are arranged thusly: Starting at the far left and moving to the far right are an unmarked 10-pounder Parrot rifle, a second unmarked 10-pounder Parrot rifle, The Ross Artillery Tablet, a third unmarked 10-pounder Parrott rifle and an unmarked 12-pounder Confederate bronze Napoleon. The cannons/rifles are referred to as unmarked because the muzzle stamp is gone. Parking is available at the side of the road at small, intermittently placed cutouts. Please do not park on the grass, park on the side of the road. I cannot emphasize that enough! You will be ticketed. I visited this monument on Saturday, March 10, 2012 at 12:57 PM, just before the clocks were set ahead for the Spring. I was at an elevation of 607 foot ASL.

These cast iron monuments were first built in 1900 and concluded in 1906 according to the NRHP nomination form. Some sites have the monuments being erected in 1910 or later. The narrative for this tablet has the monument built in 1901 and ending in 1902 which makes no sense and is quite vague. All of this tablet nonsense is very confusing and disorganized. 1910 seems to be the most reasonable date so we will go with that. It is amazing with all the work and effort exerted to make the Gettysburg National Military Park a reality, no one took the time to keep accurate records and correct installation dates. The work was done under the direction of the Gettysburg National Park Commission (established by the United States Department of War), after they took over the administration of the park from the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association (whose funds had expired) on March 3, 1893, and whose stewardship was then transferred to the National Park Service in 1933. SOURCE

Draw the Sword, using descriptive help from the NPS site (and me), offers the following description: Cast iron tablet, 3’8" x 3’4", with raised inscription painted in a contrasting color and mounted on fluted cast iron post. All 4’4" H. The inscription on the 3.8' x 3.4' tablet narrates the events associated with Battery during the Battle. This particular tablet is very different from all the others along this avenue. The number of casualties are listed in detail as well as injuries, horses killed and ammunition expelled.

These battery tablets were cast by Calvin Gilbert. Gilbert joined the 87th Pennsylvania Volunteers when the "Rebellion" broke out. Since he was musically inclined, he was made a member of the regimental band. In early 1863, he was promoted to the rank of Captain and sent to Washington D.C. for commissary duty. He served in that capacity until the war ended in 1865, and at war’s end earned the brevet rank of Major. After returning home to Gettysburg, Major Gilbert moved his family to the town of Chambersburg, where he served as the Superintendent of Schools. He also opened an iron foundry there in 1868. When Calvin learned, nearly thirty years later, in 1894, that the Gettysburg Foundry was available, he purchased it with a business partner and moved his family back to Gettysburg. For the next twenty years, the Calvin Gilbert Foundry created ironworks that are still seen today on many historic forts and national battlefields (this tablet), from upstate New York to Florida to Lookout Mountain. Gilbert lived to be 100 years old and attended the Last Reunion of the Blue and Gray for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg when he was 99. He was a most remarkable man and lived an amazing life.

Look carefully on the reverse side of one of these tablets and his name might be there; I found a tablet or two like this. The inscription on the monument reads:

Army of Northern Virginia
Hill's Corps Anderson's Division
Lane's Battalion - Ross's Battery

One Napoleon, Three 10 pounder Parrotts
One 3 inch Navy Parrott, One 12 pounder Howitzer

July 2 Five of the guns were in position here and actively engaged under a heavy fire of artillery. The Howitzer was detached and served with Patterson's Battery south of Spangler's Woods.

July 3 Remained here and participated in all the operations of the artillery including the cannonade preceding Longstreet's Assault.

July 4 Withdrew about sunset and began the march to Hagerstown.

Losses Killed 1, wounded 7, missing 2.

Ammunition expended 506 rounds.

Horses killed or disabled 9.

There are hundreds of non-sculpted monumentation for the various Confederate States & Union units which fought at Gettysburg. There are about 10 different variations of tablets, markers and monoliths by my reckoning. Six designs represent brigade (2), division (2), corps (2), & army headquarters (2), each different in a subtle way so as to distinguish between armies. Battalion/battery/advance position markers and regimental monuments for United States Regulars & Confederate have their own distinct design (2), bringing the total to ten designs at the battlefield. The bronze tablets (the brigade monuments) were created by Albert Russell & Sons Co. of Newburyport, Massachusetts. The granite bases which accompany the various tablets were created by the Van Amringe Company out of Boston, Massachusetts. The cast iron tablets were of course manufactured by the aforementioned Calvin Gilbert. The 1910 Gettysburg Commission report lists the awarded contracts to these companies (not Gilbert) for the tablets. All of these tablets were designed by architect Colonel Emmor Bradley Cope (July 23, 1834 - May 28, 1927). He designed pretty much every tablet for both the Union and Confederate armies, each one distinct, with several different varieties. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg, as well as he should be as this park and most of the things seen here today were designed by him and as such, are his legacy. These monuments/tablets were erected just after the turn of the century during the first and beginning of the second decade of the 20th century. Each one has since been preserved or restored at least twice since the turn of the 21st century. The plaques and tablets were erected by the Gettysburg Park Commission (established by the War Department). The Gettysburg Park Commission is also referred to as the Gettysburg National Military Park Commission or the Gettysburg National Park Commission, to clear up any confusions, especially my own.

On October 1, 1898, the Gettysburg National Park Commission in a letter to the Secretary of War set gave recommendations for continuing the task of organizing and progressing the work of the Gettysburg National Military Park. Every November they wrote their annual report which outlined the work of the GNPC for that year. The following is an excerpt from that report relevant to this waymark. The link at the end of the paragraph will take you to the entire report. The method of marking the positions of troops on this field, as approved by the War Department, is to place the principal tablet or monument of each command at the position occupied by the command in the main line of battle, and to mark the several important positions subsequently reached by each command in the course of the battle by subordinate and ancillary tablets, with appropriate brief inscriptions giving interesting details and occurrences and noting the day and hour as nearly as possible. SOURCE

Most of the Commission reports have been digitized and can be found HERE. The initial 1893 report up to and including 1921 can be found here. 1922 to 1926 are missing and have yet to be discovered. The years 1927 to 1933 were discovered in 1996 and are also included. To my knowledge this is the most comprehensive list of documents that illustrated the development and formation of the park.

Information about these specific types of monuments:
CONFEDERATE BATTERY TABLETS (ADVANCED POSITION MARKERS)
These tablets are 3’8" x 3’4" in dimensions, with carefully prepared inscriptions cast in raised letters painted in white (contrasting the black background) describing the part taken in the battle by each artillery battery, their position and stating its numbers and losses so far as practicable to obtain. Most of the CS battery markers state the losses were not reported in detail. The brigade which each battery served under is written first on the tablet, then proceeded by the battery name, usually accompanied by some colorful artillery name. They are mounted on iron pillars or fluted cast iron posts about 3 feet high, grouted in the ground, and the tablets are inclined at a suitable angle so that the inscriptions can easily be read by persons riding or driving on the avenue. Every tablet is 4’4" in height. The advance position markers were cast by Calvin Gilbert. SOURCE & SOURCE. These tablets usually have accompanying artillery pieces which flank the tablet on either side. There can be as little as one cannon and as many as four. The cannons usually represent the battery and the armaments that specific battery used at Gettysburg. The cannons presumably point in the same direction as they once fired at the enemy in 1863. Sometimes only the cannon pads are present as the guns are periodically removed for service, cleaning, restoration, maintenance, etc.


The Ross's Georgia Battery - CS Battery Marker 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 monument is identified as structure number MN586-D.

From the Nomination Form:
Civil War Tablet that marks position of Ross's Georgia CS Battery on July 2-4, 1863. Narrates events associated w/ Battery during Battle.

Short Physical Description:
MN & 4 Cannons. Cast iron tablet, 3'8" x 3'4", with raised inscription painted in a contrasting color and mounted on fluted cast iron post. All 4'4" H. Cast by Calvin Gilbert. 2 cannons on N & 2 cannons on S side of tablet.

Long Physical Description:
Located on E side of West Confederate Ave, S of McMillan Woods. The two cannon on the south side of the monument are still extant, however the two cannon on the north side of the monument have been removed and only the pads remain ~ All cannons have been replaced - MT


My Sources
1. NRHP Nomination Form
2. Stone Sentinels
3. Virtual Gettysburg
4. Draw the Sword
5. Historical Marker Database

Date Installed or Dedicated: 07/01/1910

Name of Government Entity or Private Organization that built the monument: Gettysburg National Military Park Commission

Union, Confederate or Other Monument: Confederate

Rating (1-5):

Related Website: [Web Link]

Photo or photos will be uploaded.: yes

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