Port Deposit in Cecil County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Snow's Battery
Battery B, 1st Maryland Light Artillery
Photographed By Pete Skillman, April 1, 2017
1. Snow's Battery Marker
Inscription.
Snow's Battery. Battery B, 1st Maryland Light Artillery. 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 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
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
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
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.