Marker Logo HMdb.org THE HISTORICAL
MARKER DATABASE
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Port Deposit in Cecil County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Snow's Battery

Battery B, 1st Maryland Light Artillery

 
 
Snow's Battery Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Pete Skillman, April 1, 2017
1. Snow's Battery Marker
Inscription. In the summer of 1861, in prosperous Port Deposit, men volunteered for an artillery battery to fight for their beloved Union. Capt. Alonzo Snow led the approximately 155-man unit. Organized in September, Snow's Battery left the Eastern Shore in May 1862 to join the army in Virginia for the Peninsula Campaign. Lt. Theodore Vanneman wrote home complaining about the lack of action: "Was in hopes we could have gotten to Yorktown before the rebels left, but it seems we are too late. The war will be over and I shan't get to see a rascally rebel in uniform." Vanneman and his comrades soon saw plenty of Confederates. Over the next three years, Snow's Battery served in the Seven Days' Battles and the Antietam Campaign, at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, New Market, Piedmont, and Lynchburg, and in the 1864 Shenandoah Valley campaigns.

Of all the battles, Antietam made the deepest impression. Vanneman wrote that on September 17, 1862, Snow's Battery arrived on the field "just in time to drive the rebels back with slaughter. All around us their dead bodies lie. You cannot move in any way but what you will see them. Such a site I never want to see again. The cries of the wounded and dying cannot help but melt the hardest heart. One poor rebel I had given water to a number of times, called out to me in the middle of the night. How
Paid Advertisement
Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.
Click or scan to see
this page online
he fares now I do not know." Today, a memorial honoring Snow's volunteers is located in an Antietam cornfield.

(captions)

(bottom left photo) Reunion, Snow's Battery, Port Deposit, 1900 - Courtesy of Historical Society of Cecil County

(top left photo) Capt. Alonzo Snow, the superintendent of the Susquehanna Canal, was 54 years old when he began leading the battery. After the war, he served as Port Deposit's postmaster. - Courtesy of Historical Society of Cecil County

(top right photo) Lt. Theodore Vanneman. His letters and those of other battery members, as well as Snow's possessions, are housed at the Paw Paw Museum in Port Deposit. - Courtesy of Historical Society of Cecil County
 
Erected by Maryland Civil War Trails.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Maryland Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical date for this entry is September 17, 1862.
 
Location. 39° 36.242′ N, 76° 6.88′ W. Marker is in Port Deposit, Maryland, in Cecil County. Marker is on South Main Street (Maryland Route 222) south of High Street (Route 276), on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Port Deposit MD 21904, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance
Context of Snow's Battery Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Pete Skillman, April 1, 2017
2. Context of Snow's Battery Marker
of this marker. A different marker also named Snow’s Battery (here, next to this marker); Gerry House (within shouting distance of this marker); On Alert (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); The River Town (about 300 feet away); John A. J. Creswell (about 400 feet away); Jacob Tome, Town Father (about 400 feet away); Adams Hall (about 600 feet away); Washington Hall (about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Port Deposit.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 28, 2020. It was originally submitted on April 2, 2017, by Pete Skillman of Townsend, Delaware. This page has been viewed 905 times since then and 32 times this year. Last updated on February 27, 2020, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on April 2, 2017, by Pete Skillman of Townsend, Delaware. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

Share this page.  
Share on Tumblr
m=145880

CeraNet Cloud Computing sponsors the Historical Marker Database.
This website earns income from purchases you make after using our links to Amazon.com. We appreciate your support.
Paid Advertisements
Mar. 29, 2024