Dan McCook Marker

This marks the starting point of the fatal Union charge against Confederate earthworks.

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Location:

About halfway along the 'Assault Trail' in the park's Southern Section

Significance:

Marker showing the starting point of one of the main Union assaults during the battle.

Designation:

National Battlefield Park.

Amenities

2 listed

Cellular Signal, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

As mentioned at the last stop, one of the brigades to lead the charge against the Confederate line was under Colonel Dan McCook. Dan McCook was a relatively young officer that came from a prominent family of soldiers in Ohio known as the ‘Fighting McCooks’. He was generally well liked and respected by his men, who referred to him as ‘Colonel Dan’. Colonel Dan would be at the forefront of the assault with men from his old regiment, the 52^nd Ohio infantry. In the minutes before the fateful action, Colonel Dan would recite a section from Thomas Macaulay’s 1842 poem ‘Horatius’ to his men. “Then out spake brave Horatius, the captain of the gate: To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods”. This brigade would suffer heavy casualties during the fighting that would follow.