Brockenborough's Maryland Battery C.S.A. Repelling a Charge at Antietam - Sharphsburg, MD
N 39° 28.560 W 077° 44.759
18S E 263804 N 4373200
One of four beautiful relief plaques which adorn the outer part of the Maryland State Monument located at the visitor center @ Antietam National Battlefield. This relief is significant as it features the rebel army.
Waymark Code: WMCATZ
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 08/16/2011
Views: 2
The oblong (horizontal) relief plaque is approximately 2 ft. x 3 ft. x 1 1/2 in and made of bronze. This relief sculpture is on the east side of the monument and if peeking at it from the right side you should be able to see the DUnker Church exactly three hundred feet to the rear left. The sculpture is entitled Brockenborough's Maryland Battery C.S.A. Repelling a Charge @ Antietam.
The sculpture features a rifle brigade in the foreground firing their cannons, which are representative of Napoleons which were used by the C.S.A. There are three men fallen. Wafts of smoke are coming out of the muzzles of two of the three cannons. DUnker church is off to the right, or what looks like the church. It could be a farm building but given its angle and proximity to the road and monument, this is a pretty good guess. The sculpture successfully depicts the soldiers in action, loading the rifles, aiming them, and firing them into the Union troops to the left rear background in very low-relief. The rest of the background is occupied by farm land and farm buildings. The caption or title is displayed at the bottom, all in capital letters.
The Maryland State monument, which honors troops who fought at Antietam for both the North and the South, is near the visitor center at the beginning of the battlefield tour. This beautiful gazebo is full of bronze relief sculptures.
From my previous waymark about this monument:
The gazebo/monument faces the Hagerstown Turnpike and is across from the Dunker Church. The Maryland State Monument was dedicated on May 30, 1900. The keynote speaker was President William McKinley, a veteran of the battle. There are a total of 10 Monuments and Markers dedicated to Union and Confederate Maryland troops. This is the only monument at Antietam dedicated to both sides. Some of the highlights of this amazing monument is a beautiful statue of an allegorical woman up top, 4 bronze relief sculptures featuring various scenes of the Battle of Antietam, and multiple bronze plaques inside.
The SIRIS site describes it as a granite gazebo with a domed copper roof topped by a copper figure of female standing on a globe. She is dressed in long robes and holds a wreath and a sword in front of her. The interior of the gazebo features four rectangular bronze relief plaques depicting battle scenes: the Wolcotts, the first Maryland Battery at Antietam; the Fifth Maryland closing in upon Roulette's Barns and House; Brockenbrough's Maryland Battery repelling a charge at Antietam; and the charge of the Second Maryland on Burnside Bridge. [This description is actually in error, the relief plaques are on the exterior and not the interior as described here].
The monument was dedicated on May 30, 1900 by the State of Maryland, rededicated Sept. 2, 1962 and rededicated again in 1989. The female figure is made of copper; the various reliefs are of bronze and the gazebo is of granite. The female figure is approximately 10 feet in height, with a width of 2.5 feet. The reliefs are approximately 2 ft. x 3 ft. x 1 1/2 inches and the gazebo is approximately 30 x 15 x 15 feet.