The First Rhode Island Artillery, Battery A is honored by a monument at Gettysburg.
About the Main Monument
When was it dedicated? Oct. 12, 1886.
What is it made out of? Sculpture: granite; Base: granite.
What size is it? Sculpture: approx. 48 x 34 x 34 in.; Base: approx. 12 x 54 x 54 in.
Who made it? Smith Granite Company, fabricator.
What does it depict? Tapered monument stands on a rough-hewn base. Polished imaged on the front is a wheel with crossed rammers and an anchor with the Rhode Island motto, “Hope.” The finial is an elongated trefoil, the corps insignia. Monument is a two-part stepped granite shaft with a trefoil design on the cap and set on a 4.6 foot square base. The shaft has incised inscriptions on the north and south sides and a polished granite crest on the east face framed by an incised inscription.
What does it honor? The monument indicates the position held by Arnold’s Battery A on the morning of July 2, 1863. On July 3, the battery expended every round of solid shot except canister, and as Longstreet’s assault bore in on their position the artillerymen also exhausted their supply of canister. The battery was withdrawn to avoid capture.
How is it inscribed? ARNOLD’S BATTERY/JULY 2 & 3, 1863
When was this photograph taken? April 17, 2011.
Where is it located? Located Gettysburg National Military Park, Hancock Avenue, west side, north of the Angle, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 17325.
Is this monument located along the NPS Auto Tour route? Yes.
Has this monument been moved or changed? This monument has not been changed or moved.
Monument Details, Alternative Views, and Contextual Views
At Gettysburg
The 1st Rhode Island Artillery, Battery A served as a member of Hazard’s Brigade in the Second Corps, Army of the Potomac.
Commander: Capt. William A. Albert (1830-1908). Book keeper in Providence.
Number Engaged: 6 Ordnance Rifles and 139 men
Casualties: 3 killed, 28 wounded, 1 missing
Soldiers Buried in the Rhode Island Plot of the Gettysburg National Cemetery:
- Pvt. Simon W. Creamer, detailed from Company K 12th New Jersey, A-20 of the New Jersey Plot
- Pvt. John Grady, detailed from Company I 15th Massachusetts, D-12 of Massachusetts Plot
- Pvt. John Higgins, A-6
- Pvt. Patrick J. Lannegan, A-9
- Pvt. John Zimala, A-3
General Information
Raised: Providence County
Regimental History ~ Dyer’s Compendium of the War of the Rebellion:
Organized at Providence and mustered in June 6, 1861. Left State for Washington, D.C., June 19. Attached to Burnside’s Brigade, Hunter’s Division, McDowell’s Army of Northeast Virginia, to August, 1861. Dept. of the Shenandoah to October, 1861. Banks’ Division, Army of the Potomac, to March, 1862. Artillery, 2nd Division, 2nd Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to June, 1863. Artillery Brigade, 2nd Army Corps, Army Potomac, to September, 1864.
SERVICE.–Duty in the Defenses of Washington, D.C., until July 16, 1861. Advance on Manassas, Va., July 16-21. Battle of Bull Run July 21. Moved to Sandy Hook, Md., July 28. Duty there and at Berlin and Darnestown until September. Moved to Harper’s Ferry September 16. Action at Bolivar Heights October 16. At Muddy Branch and Poolesville, Md., until March, 1862. Moved to Washington, thence to Hampton, Va., March 22-April 1. Virginia Peninsula Campaign April to August. Siege of Yorktown April 5-May 4. Battle of Fair Oaks (Seven Pines) May 31-June 1. Seven days before Richmond June 25-July 1. Peach Orchard and Savage Station June 29. Charles City Cross Roads and Glendale June 30. Malvern Hill July 1. At Harrison’s Landing until August 16. Movement to Alexandria August 16-28. March to Fairfax C. H. August 28-31. Cover retreat of Pope’s Army from Bull Run to Washington August 31-September 1. Maryland Campaign September. Battles of South Mountain, Md., September 14, and Antietam September 16-17. Moved to Harper’s Ferry September 22, and duty there until October 30. Reconnaissance to Charlestown October 16-17. Action at Charlestown October 16. Advance up Loudoun Valley and movement to Falmouth, Va., October 30-November 17. Battle of Fredericksburg December 11-15. Duty at Falmouth until April, 1863. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6. Maryes Heights, Fredericksburg, May 3. Salem Heights May 3-4. Gettysburg (Pa.) Campaign June 11-July 24. Battle of Gettysburg July 1-4. Advance from the Rappahannock to the Rapidan September 13-17. Bristoe Campaign October 9-22. Bristoe Station October 14. Auburn Heights October 14. Advance to line of the Rappahannock November 7-8. Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2. At Stevensburg, Va., until May, 1864. Demonstration on the Rapidan February 6-7. Morton’s Ford February 6-7. Campaign from the Rapidan to the James May-June. Battles of the Wilderness May 5-7; Spotsylvania May 8-12; Po River May 10; Spotsylvania C. H. May 12-21. Assault on the Salient May 12. North Anna River May 23-26. Line of the Pamunkey May 26-28. Totopotomoy May 28-31. Shallow Creek May 31. Cold Harbor June 1-12. Before Petersburg June 16-18. Non-Veterans mustered out June 18, 1864. Siege of Petersburg June 16-September 30. Jerusalem Plank Road June 21-23. Deep Bottom July 27-28. Mine Explosion, Petersburg, July 30 (Reserve). Strawberry Plains, Deep Bottom, August 14-18. Ream’s Station August 25. Transferred to Battery “B,” 1st Rhode Island Artillery, September 30, 1864. Battery lost during service 1 Officer and 12 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 5 Enlisted men by disease. Total 18.
Rhode Island at Gettysburg
2nd Infantry :: 1st Artillery A :: 1st Artillery B :: 1st Artillery C :: 1st Artillery E :: 1st Artillery G
