Spotsylvania Markers

At last with some free time I managed to work out all the proper related sets and group the Spotsylvania Battlefield’s markers.  As with the Wilderness, Spotsylvania has a rather simple group of interpretive markers along with a small group of memorials.  The interpretive markers are from at least four different distinct series:

- What I was calling the Department of Interior type, but have since learned are Happel panels, named for the historian who wrote the text.  (Example of a Happel Panel.) 

- The standard “tilted table” type placed by the Park Service. 

- An older metal, single post, knee high type.  Which are seen only along the foot trails, and only encountered at Spotsylvania. 

- A newer, brown colored, single post, knee high type.  Also only seen on the foot trails, but is the same type used at other units of the battlefield.

- Lastly those used in the Exhibit Shelter at Tour Stop One.

All told there are about sixty markers or monuments.  I opted to group these generally as defined by the Park Service driving tour stops, as opposed to chronologically.   Some of the stops are merged:

Tour Stop One – Exhibit Shelter, Sedgwick’s Death, Spindle House, and Warren’s Line.  (List) (Map)

Tour Stop Two – Upton’s Assault.  (List) (Map)

Tour Stop Three - The Bloody Angle.  (List) (Map)

Tour Stops Four and Five – Harrison and McCoull Houses, and Lee’s Last Line.  (List) (Map)

Tour Stops Six and Seven – East Face of the Salient, Heth’s Salient, and Burnside’s Line.  (List) (Map)

Stops around Spostylania Court House. (List) (Map)

Harris Farm (List) (Map)

I would highlight two areas outside of the battlefield where major actions occurred.  Harris Farm is the subject of a previous post.  Additionally, a short drive south of the battlefield, along Block House Bridge Road, is the site where Heth and Hancock fought on May 10, 1864.  That action was cited in one sentence of a Happel Panel and illustrated on a map panel, near the Sedgwick Monument.   

Overall I found the battlefield easy to traverse with little traffic, even at the high point of tourist season.  It was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of Gettysburg, for instance.  For those like me, who like their battlefields on foot, it is possible to park at Stop one or three and easily slog it around the entire battlefield as a day hike.  The only part of the field I found completely off the paths was Heth’s earthworks from the later stages.  The rest of the works and areas of note are along well marked trails.   I am still impressed with the extent of the preserved earthworks between the Wilderness and Spotsylvania.

HMDB Updates – 8 September

Well 87 markers this week.  Mostly between Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, D.C., and Pennsylvania.  Here’s a few of note:

• This entry from Harpers Ferry points out the location of John Brown’s Fort.
• As a bookend of sorts, of the African-American involvement in the Civil War fighting, is the Battle of Boykin’s Mill.  Fought at the very end of the war as an action in Potter’s Raid, the combatants included the Confederate “Orphan Brigade” of Kentuckians, fighting against a regiment of US Colored Troops and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, among other units.  Killed in the action was Lieutenant E. L. Stevens, the last Union officer to fall during the war.
• Many of the Georgia markers this week reference the Atlanta Campaign -  Rocky Face, Dug Gap, Dalton, Resaca, and one where I got to use my lame old 35mm photos from the old days – Cartersville.
• A fine collection of Civil War Trails markers from around Newport News, Virginia which detail the opening stages of the Peninsula Campaign.  We even have Lieut. George Custer taking balloon rides and engineering covered ways for the Sharpshooters.   Who knew Custer was so good with the spade?
• Finally, my slow but steady progress on Gettysburg.  Entries this week covered portions of Benner’s Hill, Coster Avenue, and the XI Corps First Day battlefield.  I’m inclined to nominate this tablet for Greene’s Battery as the most “off the beaten path” for the week, if not for the month.   And the “fun” marker for the week was the First Brigade, Second Division, XI Corps, which included the Coster Avenue Mural.

Beyond the Civil War, we had quite a number of Revolutionary War Markers entered also.  One of our editors from New Jersey worked in this set from Yorktown.  And we have this group from South Carolina detailing the activities at Old Ninety Six.

And I would be remiss without mentioning that HMDB officially went over 10,000 entries this week.  Lot of hard work from many contributors and editors is represented there.

Antietam vs. Gettysburg – The Markers

As I was reviewing my notes for various Gettysburg markers, what I prefer to call “tablets,” an interesting comparison came to mind.  Those familiar with the War Department’s interpretation of the major battlefields, you know of the metal markers intended to facilitate staff rides and general staff visits.  While I find those used at Antietam more or less in line, visually speaking, with those used at Chickamauga-Chattanooga or Shiloh, Gettysburg’s set are somewhat different in that respect.  And the difference doesn’t end there.

Lawton's Brigade - Antietam

Here’s a typical Antietam tablet.  At the top, in larger type, is a “header” if you will, stating the nationality, the major command (or corps), brigade and division, commanding officer, then the brigade’s regiments.  The header is separated from the text by a date in parenthesis, in this case indicating a span of dates – 16-17 September.  The text is in all capitals, but with proper names and the start of sentences given a slightly larger type size.  There is punctuation here also.  Periods most common, commas and occasional semi-colons are used.  While some sentences are clumsy, most read easily.  Notice the text is one narrative, without any breaks for the different dates.  Losses, if noted, are woven into the text with a complete sentence.  And there is a series number in the lower right.  Note that all Antietam tablets are sort of a dark slate color, if not flat black, with white text.  At the western battlefields it is not uncommon to see red or blue backgrounds indicating the separate sides represented.

Gordon's Brigade - Gettysburg

Now consider this tablet at Gettysburg.  Yes it is a little weathered, but I’m being sneaky here.  Notice the regiments listed. The “header” in this case dispenses with the nationality, and we have a “tab” at the top for the ANV or AOP designation, with corps and division assignments.  This tab is actually a separate piece, screwed into the main tablet.  In a few locations, this “tab” has been lost or removed for maintenance.  The rest of the header offers the brigade name and a listing of organic regiments.  But here the text is arranged in by date, in a grid of sorts.  The bottom line states the casualty figures in a straight forward format – killed, wounded, mising or captured, then a total.  While this example is almost bare of paint, in general this type are painted black with white text.

Now there are also other “types” at Gettysburg.  I stand open for correction, but since these all use a similar format, I assume the War Department had a hand in all.

Armisted's Brigade - Gettysburg

Here’s a tablet mounted upon a stone pedestal.  (And some of those pedestals may either be concrete or appear so due to weathering.)  The header and text layout of the tablet is similar to that of Gordon’s Brigade above, but for the addition of the nationality at the top.  We still see the “grid” format of the text narrative.  It is devoid of paint.

And yet another variation:

Battery F, 5th US - Gettysburg

This tablet (or memorial in some references) uses the same basic text layout, but adds the name of the commanding officer, and the corps symbol at the top.  The additions seem to be across the board for Federal units, regardless of the tablet style.  In addition, a disk with the U.S. seal is added.  This style is used for the regular army units, mostly.  And there is yet another variation on this theme.

Second Division, Cavalry Corps - Gettysburg

This style is used for divisional and corps tablets (again, also noted as memorials by some), but uses the same text layout.  And I could keep doing this for another half dozen variations, but you get the point – there is much more variance with Gettysburg.

Another difference beyond the use of the date grids for the main text is the almost total lack of punctuation with the Gettysburg tablets.  I’m a stickler for reproducing as exactly as possible the text presentation on a marker.  Some allowances, of course, for spacing, italics, or font sizes.  But generally I like to preserve any misspellings or errors in the text.  This is, to me, part of the context of the marker’s being.  Far be it for me to change the text, assuming something, that changes the tone or intent of the people who first planted the marker. However, for the Gettysburg tablets, I find it rather unnerving to have one big run-on sentence (and for HMDB entries, I’ve used visual cues such as capitalized first words and such to “assume” a period).  I just don’t see where anything was saved by leaving off the periods in the text.

Part of me looks at the rather simple, single format for the Antietam tablets and is grateful for the standardization.  I found that collection easy to document, using the series numbers as fine notational references.  On the other hand, there just seems to be no set order to the Gettysburg tablets.  They are not just confined to the battlefield.  Tablets dot the Maryland and Pennsylvania countryside at town squares and municipal parks.  Sadly I have seen no authoritative single reference that accounts for all the various tablets outside the battlefield.

HMDB Civil War Updates – 1 September

This week, we had fifty-four additions to the Civil War marker category.  Looking at the map, outside of the normal additions to the “Eastern Theater” and Georgia, we had additions from California, Illinois, and Delaware.

• The California entries were not just some marble shaft in a memorial park, but rather some good old history.  Camp Union was an important training post used by California troops during the war.
• Another entry from California comes from the grave site of General George Wright, “The Guardian of the Pacific,” who commanded the Military Department of the Pacific through much of the war.
• On the opposite side of the country, this marker, also at a cemetery, indicates the nearby grave site of Medal of Honor recipient Bernard McCarren.  The award was based on McCarren’s actions when his regiment, the 1st Delaware, helped repulse the great charge on July 3, 1863 at Gettysburg.  Exactly which Confederate regimental flag he capture is up for discussion.
• From Georgia we have our weekly installments for the Atlanta Campaign.  This week includes seven markers detailing actions around Dalton, Georgia, including one covering Andrew’s Raid – or to some of us that would be “Fess Parker’s Great Railroad Chase.”
• From the Atlanta area are another handful detailing the campaign actions around the city itself.  At some point in the near future, I owe the readers a logical grouping of these markers.  The battles around Atlanta were some of the most complex and weighty of the war.   Yet the campaign is poorly understood, in my opinion, by many.  While the land has been largely converted to other uses since the war, the State of Georgia has provided a remarkable set of markers to guide the modern visitor.
• Before leaving Georgia, we have one other marker of note.  This one from Darien, Georgia.  The burning of Darien was of course depicted in the movie Glory.  So we sort of have “bookends” of the Civil War on film related by markers this week.
• From Illinois, we have this humble marker indicating the muster points for two regiments.  Looking at the service history for the 73rd and 125th Illinois, you may notice both regiments participated in the Atlanta Campaign and were active around Dalton, Georgia.  Like it when the week’s markers sort of weave the story for me and provide these threads for relations!
• On the other end of the war, this marker indicates where the 1st South Carolina Infantry, Orr’s Rifles, was organized.
• Now back to the Eastern Theater for a bit.  From New Jersey, we have this marker outside Henry Washington Sawyer’s Hotel Chalfonte. As the marker relates, Sawyer was an officer in the 1st New Jersey Cavalry, and captured at Brandy Station.  He was involved with an episode of execution retaliation.  Luckily, things did not escalate out of hand.  Otherwise that fine hotel might not have been built.
• One marker from the Antietam battlefield this week.  The Park Service has replaced one of those indentified as missing from my survey in the spring.  This War Department tablet details the movements of the Stonewall Brigade in the battle.
• Our Virginia installments this week include a relatively “new” Civil War Trails marker located at Kettle Run, near Bristoe, Virginia.  The marker provided some much needed interpretation for this action leading up to the Second Manassas.
• The Spotsylvania Battlefield is now well covered.  I’ll have the chore of dressing out related marker sets later.
• Lastly, my nose has been in the books researching and posting marker entries dealing with the Gettysburg Campaign.  As before, just a little more at a time.   Note that aside from that fine line at Benner’s Hill, these markers are around the outskirts of the battlefield – the march to and retreat from Gettysburg.

That’s it for this week.

Power Line Update

More information regarding the PATH-Potomac-Appalachian and related power transmission lines:

PATH-Potomac-Appalachian maps.

PATH Project web site.

The Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line project site.   

And also this from Dominion Power:  Meadow Brook to Loudoun Transmission Line.