Pennsylvania Artillery Battery E

Independent Pennsylvania Artillery, Battery E was known as Knap’s. It was part of the 12th Corps Artillery Brigade.

The battery was raised from Philadelphia, with a good smattering from Allegheny County. It was organized at Point of Rocks, Maryland in September 1861.

At Gettysburg, the unit was commanded by Lt. Charles A. Atwell (1840-1863), a clerk from Allegheny City.

Atwell was later mortally wounded in the fall of 1863 at the battle of Wauhatchie in Tennessee.

The battery consisted of 6 Parrott Rifles and 139 men.

The battery has tow monuments at Gettysburg. The first one pictured on this post is located at the summit of Culp’s Hill, near the observation tower. It marks the position of three of the guns on the afternoon of July 2. The battery engaged the Confederate guns on Benner’s Hill.

A second monument sits on Power’s Hill. This was the position of the battery on the evening of July 2d until the end of the battle. The Power’s Hill monument is the more unique and visually interesting of the two memorials on the Gettysburg battlefield; it is carved to look like a stone cannon.

Pennsylvania Artillery Battery E

12th Corps Artillery Brigade

Engaged: 6 Parrotts and 139 men; 3 wounded

Monument: Culp’s Hill summit and Power’s Hill

Tags: Culp's Hill, Gettysburg, Monument Project, Pennsylvania, Power's Hill, XII Corps