On the northeastern slope of Culp's Hill rests this somewhat traditional appearing but ultimately uncommon monument. Standing as one of the few Confederate Regimental monuments on any field at Gettysburg^*, the marker reads 2nd Maryland CSA. Yet it was not the 2nd Maryland that fought here. The First Maryland Confederate Battalion captured lightly defended Union breastworks on July 2nd then launched a series of attacks the following day designed to exploit their earlier days successes. Surging over the breastworks captured one night earlier, they reached a point just above Pardee Field. Hidden amongst the undergrowth and often overlooked, a small marker silently notes the point at which, on July 3, 1863, the stouthearted Marylanders could advance no further.

Two decades after the war, seeking authorization to erect a monument to honor their comrades, the 1st Maryland CSA again received stiff resistance from their erstwhile Union foes. However, after the former Confederates reluctantly agreed to the re-designation of the "2nd" Maryland to avoid the potential association with the Federal 1st Maryland units who also fought on Culp's Hill, the Maryland Butternuts had their monument. Today, the casual passerby all too often gives this monument only a casual glance. But the more curious, looking closely, notice where the Marylanders, stubborn and still refusing to bend, etched the words "1st MD changed to" just above the 2nd Maryland designation.

The 1st (2nd) Maryland CSA suffered nearly 50% casualties during the three days battle, at some points fighting against friends and relatives in the Federal 1st Maryland Eastern Shore Regiment. Colonel James Wallace of the Union Maryland unit wrote of the day, "The 1st Maryland Confederate Regiment met us and were cut to pieces.  We sorrowfully gathered up many of our old friends and acquaintances and had them carefully and tenderly cared for." [G] Included among the honored Confederate dead was Grace, their canine mascot who soldiers later found on these fields, killed during the fighting on Day 3. The painting above, on display at the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg, represents Peter Frederick Rothermel's interpretation of the fighting on Culp's Hill on the morning of July 3rd. Towards the right center, he included Grace just in front of the Confederate lines. [C, E]

^* There are other Confederate regimental monuments on the fields at Gettysburg including two to the 11th Mississippi, two to the 26th North Carolina, one for the 43rd North Carolina, and a monument to Hoods' Texas Brigade. All except for Hoods' are contemporary.