Pennsylvania monuments at Antietam
The monument at Antietam to the 45th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment is east of Sharpsburg on Branch Avenue. (Branch Avenue North tour map) It was dedicated on September 17, 1904 by the State of Pennsylvania.
The 45th Pensylvania was commanded at Antietam by Lieutenant Colonel John Curtin, half brother of Pennsylvania’s Governor. Its monument is next to the monument to the 100th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.
Text from the monument:
45th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry
2nd Brigade 1st Division 9th Corps
The Regiment advanced 264 yards Northwest of this point, retiring to this position later in the day.
Casualties at Antietam
Killed 1
Wounded 36
Missing 1
Total 38
Recruited in Centre, Lancaster, Mifflin, Tioga and Wayne Counties
Secessionville (near Charleston)
South Mountain
Antietam
Fredericksburg
Vicksburg
Jackson
Blue Springs
Campbell’s Station
Weldon Railroad
Hatcher’s Run
Siege of Knoxville
Wilderness
Spotsylvania
North Anna
Cold Harbor
Petersburg
The Crater
Poplar Spring Church
Assault on Petersburg
Virtue, Liberty and Independence
Erected by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Location of the monument
The monument to the 45th Pennsylvania is east of Sharpsburg on the east side of Branch Avenue just south of the intersection with Old Burnside Bridge Road (39°27’17.4″N 77°44’19.3″W).
See more on the history of the 45th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment during the Civil War
The view looks northeast from the north end of Branch Avenue. Monuments to the 45th Pennsylvania Infantry (left) and 100th Pennsylvania Infantry (right) stand halfway up the steep banks of the bluffs that line the draw that leads from Antietam Creek (out of sight to the right) to the village of Sharpsburg (out of sight to the left). Further down the bluffs at the left of the photo Rodman Avenue crosses over modern Burnside Bridge Road to end at Old Burnside Bridge Road (heading right across the center of the photo) and the start of Branch Avenue (heading left). In the distance the chimneys of the Sherrick farmhouse rise above the trees. The Otto farmhouse is just out of the photo to the right.