Antietam Remembered Trail-Stop 6

Monument dedication September 17, 1907. General Miles is on the left in the foreground.

Stop 6 - New York State Monument

Almost one-fourth of the Union army at Antietam was from New York. Costing $30,000, the monument was dedicated September 17, 1920, on the 58th Anniversary of the Battle of Antietam. The land you are standing on, 7.91 acres, was purchased by the State of New York for the monument in 1907 for $1,402 or about $200 an acre. The monument cost more than 20 times the price of the land upon which it was built. The bronze tablets list the generals from New York who were in command and the New York regiments and batteries at Antietam and depict the New York State coat of arms. It is one of the tallest monuments on the field at approximately 58 feet high. Over 250 Civil War veterans attended the dedication. The keynote speaker was Lt. Gen. Nelson Miles. At Antietam, Gen. Miles took command of the 61st and 64th New York when their commander was wounded. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Chancellorsville, rose to the highest rank in the U.S. Army, and commanded the Army during the Spanish-American War.

 

At the dedication, Gen. Miles looked out at the veterans and guests standing on this hill and declared: “Since the creation, there has never existed in this world a people who enjoyed more freedom, liberty of thought and action, security of life and property, or who were as well provided with all the requirements and comforts of life as citizens of these United States. These bountiful blessings are derived from the government. Many nations have gone into decay and oblivion by the indifference and apathy of their citizens; ours will be no exception unless our people maintain and preserve it with devoted loyalty. If the same sublime patriotism manifested by you on this battlefield and in your lives since is maintained and perpetuated by the citizens of this country, then our Republic will be forever safe and will ascend to even higher and more exalted civilization and a purer destiny.”

Continue on the path to the last stop on the walk at the small obelisk monument

 

• Introduction and Map
• Stop 1 - The Visitor Center
• Stop 2 - Colonel S.D. Lee’s Artillery Battalion
• Stop 3 - Crossing the Hagerstown Turnpike
• Stop 4 - The Dunker Church
• Stop 5 - The Maryland Monument
• Stop 6 - New York State Monument
• Stop 7 - 20th New York Monument and Conclusion