Major General John Buford Statue - Gettysburg, PA - Lincoln Highway on Waymarking.com

There is a large grouping of these monuments along this stretch of the Lincoln Highway, which in this part of the world, is knows as Chambersburg Pike. John Buford, Jr. (March 4, 1826 – December 16, 1863) was a Union cavalry officer during the American Civil War, with a prominent role at the start of the Battle of Gettysburg. The monument was funded by Jerome B. Wheeler. The Buford Memorial Association was formed in 1888 and during design discussions, John Calef, who had commanded a horse artillery battery under General Buford, suggested that the design incorporate four ordnance rifles that were in the battery. One of the ordnance rifles was number 233, the rifle that fired the first Union artillery shot of the battle under Buford's direction. The Army Chief of Ordnance located the rifle tubes and donated them to the monument committee. At the dedication ceremony, Major Calef symbolically spiked the four rifle tubes.

The monument features a standing bronze portrait of General Buford looking out to the west as he did in 1863 when three thousand cavalrymen of his division prepared to meet the advance of Robert E. Lee's army. He holds a pair of binoculars in his raised proper right hand. Next to each corner of the base there is a three inch ordnance rifle tube mounted on a granite block.

Monument Text

"In memory of Major General John Buford, Comdg. 1st Div. Cav. Corps Army of the Potomac, who with the first inspiration of a cavalry officer selected this battlefield July 1st, 1863."

"From this crest was fired the opening gun of the battle: one of the four cannon at the base of the memorial."

Monument Details

Artist: Kelly, James Edward, sculptor; Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company, founder.

Dedicated: July 1, 1895

Dimensions: Sculpture: H. 9 ft.; Upper base: 5 x 4 x 4 ft.; Lower base: 2 x 5 x 5 ft.

John Buford was born in Kentucky on March 4, 1826. He was the half-brother of Union General Napoleon B. Buford and the cousin of Confederate General Abraham Buford.

West Point trained and a veteran of the 2nd Dragoons, Buford recognized the importance of Gettysburg's strategic position as a hub of several major roads. He expertly positioned his division to delay the Confederate forces advancing on the city until Union infantry could reach the field, allowing the Army of the Potomac to control the vital high ground south and east of town throughout the battle.

Buford did not survive the year. Stricken with typhoid during the autumn campaign on the Rappahannock, he died on Dec. 16, 1863. A deathbed promotion to Major General was made effective to July 1, 1863, his triumph at Gettysburg.

The bronze statue was created in 1895 by sculptor James Kelly, who was well known for his statues of military figures. Kelly's interviews with his subjects were published in 2005 in Generals in Bronze, edited by William B. Styple.

The cannon surrounding the monument are the actual pieces of Calef's Battery, 2nd United States Artillery, Battery A. The barrel facing down Chambersburg Pike (the one facing toward the lower right corner of the photograph) fired the first Union artillery shot of the battle under General Buford's personal direction. Captain Calef tracked it down after the war using its serial number, 223. It is marked by a small bronze plate which can be seen in the photo on top of the barrel.