An Excursion of the Philadelphia Brigade to Antietam, September 17, 1906

What follows is an account of the excursion of the Philadelphia Brigade Association to its Antietam Monument on September 17, 1906. 

"At a meeting of the Philadelphia Brigade Association, held at Grand Army headquarters, Fifth and Chestnut streets, on Tuesday evening June 12, 1906, upon motion of Comrade John W. Frazier, it was unanimously agreed that the Brigade Association make a visit to Gettysburg and Antietam, on September 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th, and that a Committee of Seven, with Commander John D. Worman, as chairman, be appointed to make all arrangements for such a trip."

"On the following day Adjutant Frazier wrote to Comrade Chas. T. Loehr, Secretary Pickett's Division Association, informing him of the action taken by the Brigade Association, and suggesting that the survivors of the Philadelphia Brigade would like to meet the comrades of Pickett's Division upon this occasion." 

Soon, the Pickett's Division Association accepted the invitation and the Reunion of the Blue and Gray took shape and dates established. The two former foes would devote September 15-16 to memorializing Gettysburg. On the 17th, the Philadelphia Brigade Association embarked on a day trip to Antietam "to honor by our presence the memory of 545 of our Brigade, who fell in that one day's battle." Things did not go well.  

The itinerary laid out, they would leave Gettysburg, "on Monday morning, at 8.30 o'clock, take a special train for Antietam. Drive to Philadelphia Brigade Park, where dinner will be served, after which a drive over the Antietam battle-field, returning to Gettysburg in time for supper."

And so, "on Monday morning at 8.30 o'clock, the whole party took the special train for Antietam, and although the promise of the Railroad Company was to put us at the Antietam Station at 11 o'clock--a run of about 40 miles in 2 1/2 hours--it was half past one o'clock when the train reached Antietam, full two hours and a half behind time, thus making our trip to Antietam one of vexation, instead of pleasure, inasmuch as dinner had been provided for 150 persons at the Philadelphia Brigade Park at 11.30 o'clock, remaining cooked and uneaten until two o'clock, and depriving us of our anticipated trip over the Antietam battle-field, as we were scheduled to return to Gettysburg at 4 o'clock."

While their dinner must have been a hurried affair, the brigade did have time for a memorial photograph during  their less than two hour visit to the field.

"Starting from Antietam at 4 o'clock, we reached Gettysburg at 6:15, in time for supper, making the return trip in 2 1/4 hours--just half the time it took to make the trip to Antietam from Gettysburg."

Source: John W. Frazier, Reunion of the Blue and Gray: Philadelphia Brigade and Pickett's Division, July 2, 3, 4 1887 and September 15, 16, 17, 1906 (Philadelphia, Ware Bros. Company, Printers, 1906), pp. 10, 57, 113-14.

Philadelphia Brigade Park

The Philadelphia Brigade Park is stop number 5 on the auto tour of the field. It is marked by a stone obelisk rising 73 feet above the surrounding 11 acre park. A recent study by Susan W. Trail titled, Remembering Antietam: Commemoration and Preservation of a Civil War Battlefield [1] describes the creation of Antietam National Battlefield. In it she describes how the Philadelphia Brigade Park came to be.

During the 1890s, national parks were established to commemorate the conflicts at Gettysburg, Shiloh, Chickamauga/Chattanooga, Vicksburg, and Antietam. Soon states and veterans organizations began erecting regimental, brigade, and state monuments along the roads and fields of these parks. At Antietam, the Philadelphia Brigade Association sought a suitable location to erect memorials to the four brigades--the 69th, 71st, 72nd, and 106th Pennsylvania--who fought under Oliver O. Howard and who were collectively known as the Philadelphia Brigade.

In the early spring of 1895, the Association contacted Antietam Battlefield Board President Major George B. Davis about creating monuments to each of the brigades' four regiments. Davis, in reply, expressed his "dislike of 'tombstones' across the battlefield, recommending instead that it erect one monument to the entire Brigade." p. 250.

The Association, adopting Davis' suggestion, then met with Ezra Carman in mid-August to select the monument's location. The property the Association wanted was owned by George H. Poffenberger, a farmer with a cantankerous reputation and a keen eye for profit. "The members had intended on buying a small lot just large enough to hold the monument, but when Poffenberger offered to sell them 1/4 acre for the exorbitant price of $400, or eleven acres for $1,000, they quickly chose the latter after consultation with Gen. Carman." p. 250.

With an agreement in hand, the Association began raising funds to purchase the land, make improvements, and build a suitable monument to the brigade. Of the contributors, the Pennsylvania State Legislature gave $5,000--a generous sum but less than what they would have given for four individual brigade monuments--which were allocated by the state at $1,500 each.

On September 17, 1896, the Association joined by governors from Pennsylvania and Maryland and "a substantial number of veteran's organizations" gathered to dedicate the park. p. 251.

While the Association had intended to turn its new park over to the War Department, this action was delayed. One possible reason was a "dispute arising over surplus cannon balls that the Secretary of War had agreed to provide the Association to embellish the grounds of the park. Evidently, the Association believed that this agreement included the cannon carriages, and did not find out otherwise until less than two weeks before the dedication. The controversy continued for another year, until the Secretary of War finally rescinded his original agreement." p. 251, note 22.

Left with the responsibilities of administering the park, the Association turned to the City of Philadelphia who took over the park in 1903. George H. Poffenberger was hired as caretaker--something he neglected and his employers regretted. As complaints about the condition of the Park rose, a military investigation found "a locked gate [to the park entrance], 'many benches scattered about, helter skelter, and an unsightly wire fence strung within the ornamental iron fence to keep in sheep that the caretaker is reported to pasture there to save the use of lawn mower." p. 311.

The Hagerstown Chamber of Commerce then got involved. Led by John B. Ferguson, the Chamber contacted the City of Philadelphia in May 1932 to propose that the city open the park to the public, dismantle the troublesome gate under the control of Poffenberger, and turn the maintenance of the park over to the War Department which was doing a good job with other parts of the field. The title to the park would be transfered to the War Department as well. After a number of false starts, the park came into the National Park Service hands in September 1940. p. 360.

The Third Delaware monument in the field due north of the Philadelphia obelisk in 1964 marked the final addition to the Philadelphia Brigade Park .

Today parts of the original fencing can still be seen marking the the 11 acre original purchase. The property to the south all the way to the Dunkard Church and to the west to the by-pass are now in NPS hands and a master plan for the West Woods (and the original Philadelphia Brigade Park) envisions a careful restoration of field and buildings to September 17, 1862.

Notes:

[1] All page references are to: Susan W. Trail, Remembering Antietam: Commemoration and Preservation of a Civil War Battlefield. Dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park, 2005.

All photographs in black and white or sepia from the Antietam National Battlefield Library, courtesy of NPS Ranger Allan Schmidt.

Photo 1. The Philadelphia Brigade Park, ca. 1935. The two small signs to the right and left of the roadway read: (left sign) "Battlefield Visitors May Lunch Here 9 AM Till Dusk, No Entrance After Dusk"; (right sign) "Keep Motor Cars Off The Grass, Park 45o on Driveway."
Photo 2. The troublesome gate, ca. 1926.
Photo 3. Looking north to the Philadelphia Brigade Monument from the Dunker church, ca. 1950s. The George H. Poffenberger farmstead is in the far left of the frame.
Photo 4. The same shooting location as Photo 3 but a few years later. Looking north to the Brigade Monument from the Dunkard Church, ca. 1960.
Photo 5. Workers setting cement fence posts along the southern boundary of the original 11 acre Philadelphia Brigade Park, ca. 1930s.
Photo 6. Cement fence posts and rusted fence wire still mark the boundary of the original Brigade Park. Debris from the George H. Poffenberger farmstead still litter the newly-acquired property.