Army and Corps Headquarters Markers
The marker is a 4.5 inch Siege Rifle (sometimes called a 4.5 inch Ordnance Rifle) cast by the Fort Pitt Foundry in Pittsburgh. It was placed in 1913 by the Gettysburg National Military Park Commission.
From the headquarters marker on Cemetery Hill
Army of the Potomac
11th Corps Headquarters
Major General Oliver O. Howard
July 1,2,3,4 1863
Major General Oliver O. Howard
Major General Oliver O. Howard commanded the 11th Corps at the Battle of Gettysburg. Howard (West Point Class of 1854), was a career Army officer from Maine. After spending a year in Florida fighting the Seminoles, Howard taught mathematics at West Point. When the Civil War broke out he became colonel of the 3rd Maine Infantry Regiment. Howard commanded a brigade at Bull Run as senior colonel, and was promoted to Brigadier General in September. He was badly wounded at Fair Oaks in June of 1862, losing his right arm. When he recovered he returned to the army to command a division at Antietam. Howard was promoted to major general in November of 1862, and was given command of the 11th Corps in April of 1863.
Oliver Howard was not well received by his new command. He was replacing Franz Siegel, who was liked and respected by the German immigrants that made up much of the 11th Corps. Howard in turn seemed to have little respect for his foreign-born subordinates. The result of the mistrust and lack of communication was the debacle at Chancellorsville, where the 11th Corps was crushed by Jackson’s flank attack. The collapse of the 11th Corps at Gettysburg seemed to confirm that Chancellorsville was not an isolated accident.
After Gettysburg
When two corps were sent west from the army that October, Meade could not have been too dismayed that Howard and his 11th Corps was one of them. Surprisingly Howard excelled in the Western Theater. He rose to commander of the Army of the Tennessee, commanding the right flank of Sherman’s March to the Sea. After the war Howard ran the Freedman’s Bureau, founded Howard University and served as its President, fought in the Nez Perce war, and was Superintendent at West Point. He retired from the army in 1894, and died in 1909.
Major General Oliver O. Howard’s equestrian statue is on East Cemetery Hill not far from the 11th Corps headquarters marker.
Union Major General Oliver O. Howard
Location of the headquarters marker
The headquarters marker is on the southeast side of Gettysburg, on East Cemetery Hill. It is 80 feet northeast of General Hancock’s monument.