Old Court House Civil War Museum  Winchester, Virginia

Inscription: Broad ??????? / A or could be PA / Philadelphia"

Location: From SE Corner north 186 inches, up 50 inches. 

John Broadbent was wounded 9/17/62 at Antietam, died shortly thereafter 10/1/62 This certainly appears to be the guy but there are discrepancies that are hard to reconcile. It is virtually certain that John Broadbent did not come to Winchester as the Confederates occupied Winchester after Antietam and he was severely wounded, not captured. The inscription looks like a memorial, has the general appearance of a tombstone, and I believe that the likely explanation is that one of his comrades was captured, and wrote his name on the wall as a fallen comrade. This we conclude because David Hicks is also on the wall with similar facts. Who wrote his name will be a mystery, his name is probably one of the many lost names. So far we have not found Antietam prisoners but there are so many parts of the wall obscured with paint or missing plaster that such inscriptions could be anywhere.

Alternately this unit participated in August 1862 campaign in Northern Virginia (Second Bull Run, Chantilly, but there is nothing definite in this record linking him to Winchester.

Military Record: Yes confirms wounding

Pension Record: Yes Widow application 14017 Certificate 7472

Minor application 162695 Certificate 137717

Note that pension file involved an appeal, fraud was alleged because his wife lived oversees and had never lived in the US until after the war!