Alternate Designations: None.
Commander: Lt. Col. Leonard W. Carpenter (1834-1908).
Numbers: 229; 9 killed, 17 wounded, 5 missing.
Raised: Knox, Delaware, Hardin, Marion, Wayne, and Stark.
Dedicated September 14, 1887.
Location: Baltimore Street, East Cemetery Hill It marks the position held by the 4th Ohio Infantry where they helped repel a Confederate assault from reaching the crest of Cemetery Hill.
Description: Ornate pedestal stands on a simulated rough-hewn base. Relief elements on the pedestal include a State Seal, eight crossed flags, an eagle with four crossed flags and weapons and three crossed rifles. A uniformed sentry figure and shaft stands on top of the pedestal. Commissioned for $2,500 by the Veteran’s Association of the 4th Ohio, this monument is one of 20 honoring Ohio troops who participated in the Gettysburg campaign. It is also one of the few zinc or “white bronze” (as it was called) pieces in the park.
In 1976, the soldier and shaft were removed because their weight was causing stress cracks to appear at the base. The shaft was leaning 7 degrees when it and the figure were dismantled. These elements have since been replaced and repaired. The fiasco with the 4th Ohio monument led to the banning of white bronze as a material for use in Gettysburg monuments. In fact, it took only four weeks for the GBMA to ban “white bronze” (they did it on the mere appearance of the 4th Ohio Monument). In 2004, the National Park Service used a steel plate to shore up the shaft of the monument and returned it to East Cemetery Hill. The $25,000 cost to restore the monument was paid by a Sons of Union Veterans group in Ohio.
National Park Service List of Classified Monuments Number: MN309.
Sculptor: Peter B. Laird
Other Monuments: Main Monument | Position Monument
Army of the Potomac > Second Corps > Third Division > First Brigade