Charge of Second Maryland on Burnside Bridge - Sharpsburg, MD
N 39° 28.558 W 077° 44.761
18S E 263801 N 4373197
One of four beautiful relief plaques which adorn the outer part of the Maryland State Monument located at the visitor center @ Antietam National Battlefield.
Waymark Code: WMCAV2
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 08/16/2011
Views: 5
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 south side of the monument and if peeking at it from the right side you should be able to see the Smoketown Road to the rear left. Your back will be to Dunker Church. The sculpture is entitled Charge of Second Maryland on Burnside Bridge.
The sculpture is a violent scene of action as the Union troops are poised with muskets, ready to charge across the Burnside Bridge, an important Antietam Civil War site. We can only see the backs of their heads and a very slight profile of their left side of their faces Casualties already litter the foreground. One soldier has just been shot, his hand clutching the wound at his chest. A mustached officer has his sword raised, probably about to scream "Charge!". The bridge is very detailed, the viewer can make out the stone, the boulders about the banks of the river and the movement of the water below. There are two flag bearers in the middle of the pack which complete the Union scene. In the background, to the rear right are the cannons of the rebel army in very low relief. This is all we can see of the Confederates. A well detailed forest is on the opposite side of the bridge to the rear right background. This is a very detailed account of the bloody scene which ensued at the Burnside Bridge.
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.