Location Details
- 28 West Baltimore StreetTaneytown, MD 21787
The Trinity Lutheran Church steeple was used by the Union Army to send signals during the Gettysburg Campaign.
The Union Signal Corps established their headquarters on June 30, 1863, at Trinity Lutheran Church. The signals they passed could be seen at Gettysburg. The Signal Corps used flags by day and flares by night, with each message taking between seven to eleven minutes to send. The steeple has since been extensively remodeled twice.
In the Trinity Lutheran churchyard is the grave of John Buffington, Co. C, 6th Maryland Volunteer Infantry. Buffington was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1908 for bravery in the Battle of Petersburg, VA, on April 2, 1865.
