During the Battle of Antietam, the 11th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, was involved in fierce fighting near Burnside Bridge.
The 11th Regiment, mustered into service in October 1861, was deployed on the east side of Antietam Creek and supported attacks against Confederates on the ridges above the creek’s west side.
The west face of the monument, a short walk south from Burnside Bridge, bears the regiment’s name, the Connecticut seal and a bronze plaque depicting fighting near the bridge.
The south face of the monument identifies the 11th as a member of the Second Brigade.
The east face lists the names of 39 regimental members killed in the battle, including its commander, Henry Kingsbury, Jr., and Capt. John Griswold, who led two companies into battle. The east face also lists the unit’s membership in the Ninth Corps of the Army of the Potomac.
The north face lists the regiment’s affiliation with the Corps’ Third Division.
The monument, like the other Connecticut regimental monuments at Antietam, was dedicated on October 11, 1894.
During the battle, the regiment had 139 killed and wounded, a total that included every field officer. After the battle, Griffin Stedman, who is honored with a monument on Hartford’s Campfield Avenue, was appointed regimental colonel.
Tags: Antietam