132nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Pennsylvania monuments at Antietam

The monument to the 132nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment at Antietam is along the Sunken Road (Bloody Lane) off Richardson Avenue. (Sunken Road west tour map) It was dedicated on September 17, 1904.

The 132nd Pennsylvania was commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg by Colonel Richard A. Oakford, a justice of the peace from Scranton. He was killed early in the battle, hit by a sharpshooter in the shoulder which severed an artery while bringing the regiment up for the attack on the Sunken Road.  Lieutenant Colonel Vincent M. Wilcox, a Scranton dry goods merchant, then took command and held the position in front of the Sunken Road for four hours. When their ammunition was exhausted the regiment fixed bayonets and charged, joined by the Irish Brigade, clearing the Confederates from their front and taking many prisoners.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Vincent’s report, the regiment “brought into action 750 men, and brought out 364 men, exclusive of officers.”

132nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment monument at Antietam

Text from the front of the monument:

Antietam

132
Pennsylvania
Volunteer
Infantry

1 Brigade 2 Division 2 Corps

September 17, 1862

Text from the tablet on the rear of the monument:

Casualties at Antietam
Killed 30
Wounded 114
Missing 8
Total 152

Battles participated in:
Antietam, Md. Sept. 17, 1862
Fredericksburg, Va. Dec. 13, 1862
Chancellorsville, Va. Apr. 30-May 3, 1863

Recruited in:
Montour, Wyoming, Bradford, Columbia, Carbon and Luzerne Counties.

Virtue, Liberty and Independence
Erected by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Location of the monument

The monument to the 132nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment is north of Sharpsburg on the north side of the Sunken Avenue (Bloody Lane) 300 yards northwest of the Observation Tower (39°28’14.6″N 77°44’19.2″W).

See more about the history of the 130th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War