Dedicated: July 2, 1893.
Location: National Cemetery Northeast of the Soldiers’ National Monument.
Description: This almost ninety-five-feet-high monument was designed as a classical triumphant column modeled after Trajan’s Column in Rome. The granite pedestal, shaft, and capital are mounted on an elevated base. The capital is surmounted by a sixteen-foot-tall bronze classical allegorical female figure. This figure, representing the state of New York, weeps as she places a wreath on the graves of fallen soldiers. Lower down on the shaft, a cast bronze eagle, mounted on the Seal of New York State, stands in front of a relief intended to represent the trophies of war. The base of the shaft is ornamented with a bronze trophy relief encircling the column. It is divided into four scenic bronze panels that depict the death of General John F. Reynolds, the wounding of Generals Winfield Scott Hancock and Daniel E. Sickles, and the Council of War called by General Henry W. Slocum. Vertical panels that detail the accoutrements of war separate these four panels. The square pedestal contains two Doric pilasters on each side. On the west, the pilasters frame a bronze Roll of Honor with a listing of New York’s dead officers. These pilasters support an architrave decorated with eleven bronze symbols of the New York State Corps that fought at Gettysburg. Above these symbols, an arched pediment frames the words “New York.” The female figure atop the monument, the bronze panels encircling the column, and the bronze trophy relief were designed and sculptured by Caspar Buberl.
Bronze plaques around the base list the names of every New York officer who fell at Gettysburg. The individual corps badges and the branches of service are also honored by bronze plaques. Around the thirty-three foot column is wrapped a bronze relief representing key moments in battle — the wounding of Sickles on July 2; the wounding of Hancock on July 3; Slocum’s council of War on Culp’s Hill on July 3; and finally the death of General Reynolds on the morning of July 1. It cost just over $59,000 and consists of Hallowell and Fox Island granite and bronze.
National Park Service List of Classified Monuments Number: MN182.
Sculptor: Caspar Buberl
Monument Details
