Maryland Monuments at Antietam
The monument to Maryland’s Purnell Legion Infantry is north of Sharpsburg, west of the Dunker Church. (Visitor Center-Dunker Church tour map) It was dedicated on May 30, 1900.
About the Purnell Legion
The Purnell Legion was recruited between October 31, 1861, and December 31, 1861, at Pikesville Arsenal, near Baltimore. The legion was an organization used on both sides in the early part of the Civil War, and was conceived as a combined arms organization incorporating infantry, cavalry and artillery in one unit. The Purnell Legion consisted of nine companies of infantry, two companies of cavalry, and two batteries of light artillery.
As the war went on the legion concept did not fit well into the large armies that were forming. The legions on both sides were broken up and their components assigned to their respective arms. The Purnell Legion split up in February of 1862 . The two cavalry companies became independent companies, the artillery batteries became Battery A and Battery B, Maryland Light Artillery, and the nine infantry companies became a regiment.
Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Simpson commanded the Purnell Legion Infantry at Antietam. He was a carpenter and former ship captain from Baltimore. Simpson had joined the Purnell Legion as Captain of Company A in August of 1861, was promoted to major in April 1862 and lieutenant colonel in July. He took command of the regiment after Colonel William J. Leonard was captured at Catlett’s Station in August. Lieutenant Colonel Simpson would resign his command in December, but in June of 1863 he became lieutenant colonel of the 9th Maryland Infantry, a nine months service regiment.
Text from the monument
Purnell Legion Infantry
Maryland
3rd Brigade
2nd Greene’s Division
12th Mansfield’s Corps
Occupied a line
running north from
this marker. Loss, 3
killed, 23 wounded.
The monument to the
Maryland troops is
near the Dunkard
Church.
Location of the monument to Maryland’s Purnell Legion at Antietam
The Purnell Legion monument at Antietam is north of Sharpsburg. It is on Confederate Avenue west of the Dunker Church. (39°28’30.9″N 77°44’52.9″W)