Sculpted by Gary Casteel
 
1863 Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Monument Replicas
 
Although recruited in April of 1861 by Mexican War veteran, Capt. Henry T. Danforth, Battery B, 1st Pennsylvania, was best known as Battery B or Cooper’s Battery for its leader, Capt. James H. Cooper.  Danforth turned down promotion to lieutenant colonel when it would have resulted in his being assigned to another unit; instead, he chose to remain with Battery B, resigning his commission and re-enlisting as a private and ultimately being killed near Richmond in 1862.  Cooper took over as captain.  At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Major General John F. Reynolds called Cooper “the bravest man in the army” after he and his men stood fast with the 37th New York Regiment and saved the Union line.
   
At the Battle of Gettysburg, the men of Battery B held five positions during the three days of fighting on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863.  Cooper’s Battery arrived on the field at midday on July 1.  The battery was first posted in “an oatfield some 350 yards south of the Cashtown road” on East McPherson Ridge and for a short time engaged the Confederate guns of Col. William Pegram’s artillery to the west, then turned north toward the guns of Lt. Col. Thomas H. Carter’s battalion.  The cannoneers had just begun working in earnest when an axle snapped on one of the guns, reducing the unit’s firepower by a quarter.  Despite this, twenty-three-year-old “little Cooper” stood to the task at hand, as at Fredericksburg.  Col. Charles S. Wainwright, commanding the artillery brigade of the First Corps of the Army of the Potomac during the battle, however, disliked vulnerable positions and ordered Cooper to a new location “in front of the professor’s house” on Seminary Ridge.  It remained there until driven back through the town.
  
On July 2, a shot from a rebel twenty-pounder gun, immediately in front of their position, exploded under one of the guns, killing privates Peter G. Hoagland and James H. M'Clleary and wounding Corporal Joseph Reed and privates Jesse Temple and Daniel W. Taylor.  On July 3, it took the place of one of the Reserve Artillery Batteries, where it did good service.  Battery B was the only light artillery unit to have participated in all three days of fighting.  On July 4, it was ordered to Emmittsburg, where it was in position twenty-four hours.  It then accompanied the army to the Rappahannock, where it remained on picket until the 10th of September.
  
The monument was dedicated in 1944 and is located on the east side of Reynolds Avenue about 140 yards south of Meredith Avenue.