Monument on Powers Hill

On 11 September 1889 the veterans of Knap's Battery; the Independent Pennsylvania Light Artillery, with their friends and family gathered on Powers Hill in Gettysburg. They were there to see the dedication of one of their two monuments. These old soldiers had seen action on the last two days of fighting at Gettysburg. They had lost a man here at Gettysburg, holding the ground around Culp's Hill.


On Powers Hill that autumn day of 11 September 1889, the men of Knap's Battery had assembled to hear one of their own, Sergent David Nicoll, give the Key Note Address . David Nicholl was born in New York 22 Feb 1841 and had enlisted as a Private in Knap's Battery.

James D McGill opened a recruiting office in Allegheny City, PA in August 1861. He was recruiting for a three year company, and had filled it by 1 September 1861 with 98 men. The men left PA on 28 September 1861 and traveled to Point of Rocks, Maryland, where they were joined by the 28th Regiment. Here the men elected Joseph M Knap their Captain. The battery received 4 Ten Pounders along with caissons, horses and equipment. They were now Knap's Battery.

Lieutenant Charles Atwell

Knap stayed with the Battery until 16 May 1863, when he resigned to become the Superintend of the Fort Pitt Foundry in Pittsburgh,PA . He was succeeded in command of the Battery by Lieutenant Charles A Atwell. With the rest of the Army of the Potomac, Knap's Battery marched north looking for the Army of Northern Virginia in June 1863. They crossed into PA at Littlestown on 30 June 1863.



Monument on Culp's Hill

 Knap's Battery arrived on the Gettysburg Battlefield on the evening on 1 July 1863. It took position on the left rear of the Union line on Cemetery Hill where the Battery spent the night. During the Battle of Gettysburg Knap's Battery was part of the Artillery Brigade of the 12th Corps. Under the command of Lieutenant Edward D Muhlenburg, this brigade was made up of Battery "F" of the 4th US, Battery "K" of the 5th US, Battery "M" of the 1st NY, and Knap's. 2 July 1863 found Kanp's located with Stevenson's 5th Maine Battery. One section with Lieutenant E R Geary commanding was sent to the crest of Culp's Hill along with Battery "K". Here by their second monument, Knap's Battery silenced eight Confederate Guns located on Benner's Hill in about 30 minutes. The Battery saw three wounded here, Bugler Nicholas Falter, and Privates Henry G Gibson and James C Davis. Gibson would died from his wound, becoming the only casualty for Knap's Battery at Gettysburg. In the evening the Battery moved their 6 Ten Pounders to Powers Hill, not far from Union General Slocum's headquarters.

At 4:30 am the guns on Powers Hill opened fire on the Confederates in front of them on Culp's Hill and in Spangler's Spring. Lieutenant Muhlenberg said of the artillery here, it "was of essential service at this point of the field and no doubt contributed greatly in preventing the enemy from establishing himself in so desirable a position whence he could either have held the Pike or moved his forces along the South East slope and occupied a sufficiency of Cemetery Hill to annoy if not entirely control the position held by the army." The firing here continued until after 10 am. Knap's Battery was part the pursuit of General Robert E Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. They continued to Culpeper Court House where on 24 September 1863 they were ordered to join the Army of the Cumberland in Chattanooga, along with the rest of the 11th and 12th Corps.

Knap's Battery would serve out the war, seeing action in many more battles. They were mustered out of service at Camp Braddock's Field in PA on 14 June 1865. During their term of service they saw 25 battles. They had 12 of their men killed in battle, 11 died from diseases, 2 died in prison, and 39 were wounded.

David Nicoll was there in Gettysburg on 11 September 1889 to speak at the dedication of the Knap's Battery Monument, he would be wounded in the shoulder and arm latter in the war at the Battle of Wauhatchie in Tennessee on 29 October 1863. He died 5 October 1929 in Red Oak, Iowa.


1 - N.A., Pennsylvania At Gettysburg; Ceremonies at the Dedication of the Monuments Erected by the Commonwealth of PA [Harrisburg,PA, Wm Stanley National State Printer, 1904], vol 2, p 912

2 - Conley Wlterman, GAR Post Ida Grove, Ida County, Iowa; Iowa in the Civil War, a project of the IAGenWeb [http://iagenweb.org]
3 - N.A., Pennsylvania At Gettysburg; Ceremonies at the Dedication of the Monuments Erected by the Commonwealth of PA [Harrisburg,PA, Wm Stanley National State Printer, 1904], vol 2, p 912-13
4 - ibid, pp 912-13
5 - ibid, pp 912-13
6 - ibid, p 915
7 - ibid, p 915
8 - ibid, p 915
9 - J Howard Wert, A Complete Hand - Book of the Monument and Indication and Guide to the Positions on the Gettysburg Battlefield [Harrisburg,PA, RM Sturgeon & Co Pub, 1886], p 194
10 - N.A., Pennsylvania At Gettysburg; Ceremonies at the Dedication of the Monuments Erected by the Commonwealth of PA [Harrisburg,PA, Wm Stanley National State Printer, 1904], vol 2, p 915
11 - Steve Maczuga, The Pennsylvania Civil War Project [http://athens.pap.psu.edu/]
12 - Henry W Pfanz, Gettysburg Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill [n.pl., The University of NC Press, 1993], p 285
13 - N.A., Pennsylvania At Gettysburg; Ceremonies at the Dedication of the Monuments Erected by the Commonwealth of PA [Harrisburg,PA, Wm Stanley National State Printer, 1904], vol 2, pp 915-16
14 - N.A., Pennsylvania At Gettysburg; Ceremonies at the Dedication of the Monuments Erected by the Commonwealth of PA [Harrisburg,PA, Wm Stanley National State Printer, 1904], vol 2, p 916
15 - ibid, p 916
16 - ibid, p 917
17 - ibid, p 917
18 - Steve Maczuga, The Pennsylvania Civil War Project [http://athens.pap.psu.edu/]
19 - Conley Wolterman, GAR Post Ida Grove, Ida Co, IA; Iowa in the Civil War; a project of the IAGenWeb [http://iagenweb.org]