Wednesday, the National Park Service put a ball/sphere back on top of the monument to Knap’s Pennsylvania Battery on Culp’s Hill. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 2:00 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
On Wednesday, July 8th, a sphere/ball was put on top of the Culp’s Hill monument to Knap’s Pennsylvania Battery. We talked with National Park Service Supervisory Exhibits Specialist Vic Gavin, who gave us an update on some other monuments that were vandalized.
Vic Gavin, on the right, and his crew were out early to work on the monument Wednesday morning. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 7:15 AM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
On Thursday evening, October 12, 2008 the ball on the top of the monument was stolen. This view was taken facing northwest at approximately 7:30 AM on Monday, October 13, 2008.
The vandals have not been caught, and the ball/sphere was never found. This view was taken facing northwest at approximately 7:15 AM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
So the National Park Service had to spend its own (our own) government funds to replace the ball/sphere. This view was taken facing northwest at approximately 2:00 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
The ball/sphere came from Barre, Vermont, via Codori Memorials in Gettysburg and cost $3000. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 7:15 AM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
And although it looks good with the sphere back on top, the monument is still suffering from vandalism on this side. Look at the bottom. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 2:00 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
Vic Gavin informed us that the seal for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania which is supposed to be located here has been missing for years, before Vic began working at Gettysburg. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 2:00 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
But the ball looks good being back in its place for now. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 2:00 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
Hopefully it will be in place for years to come. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 2:00 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
On the evening of February 16, 2006 the monuments to the 11th Massachusetts, 114th Pennsylvania, and Smith’s New York Battery, shown here, were severely damaged by vandals. Little Round Top is in the background. This view was taken facing east at approximately 2:30 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
The monument to the 114th Pennsylvania has been fixed. The top of Smith’s Battery used to have a bronze statue of a soldier holding a rammer. This view was taken facing east at approximately 2:30 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
The vandals pulled the bronze statue off this pedestal and dragged it approximately 60 feet, past the witness tree atop Devil’s Den/Houck’s Ridge (shown here in all its glory) to the “sharpshooter position.” The heads of the people in the background to the right of the tree are looking at the sharpshooter position. This view was taken facing east at approximately 2:30 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
While most of the statue was recovered, the head and the top of the rammer were not. By September, Vic Gavin will travel to Manchester, New Hampshire, where there is an identical statue. He will make a rubber mold of the head of that statue and of the top of the rammer. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 2:30 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
He will then take the mold to a company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania that will cast a new head and top of the rammer. The new pieces will be very shiny, like a new penny, and Vic will have to use materials to treat them to match the rest of the statue. This view was taken facing northwest at approximately 2:30 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
He hopes to have the bronze statue atop the monument by Spring, 2010. This view was taken facing east at approximately 2:30 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
Then there’s the monument to the 11th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment along the Emmitsburg Road. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 2:45 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
The monument is located at the junction of the Emmitsburg Road on the right and Sickles Avenue on the left. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 2:45 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
The vandals pulled an arm holding a sword from the top of the monument. The Klingel House is in the left background. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 2:45 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
From a previous vandalism attempt the NPS has an extra copy of the sword, but the arm has too many parts missing to easily recreate. The site of the Rogers House is behind (northwest of) the white picket fence in the background. This view was taken facing northwest at approximately 2:45 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
The arm and sword are on the State Seal and Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The sword illustrates the Latin motto that is written in gold on a blue ribbon around the bottom of the shield: “Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem”. It means, “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty”.
The arm was badly damaged, and the best images of it were on photographs taken by William Tipton when the monument was first constructed. The National Park Service will have to go by those photographs and do their best to reconstruct the arm. It will not however, be a perfect copy. Big Round Top is above the Trostle Barn in the background. Little Round Top is to the left of Big Round Top. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 2:45 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
Vic Gavin told us it will be “a long time” before the arm and the sword are again placed on top of the 11th Massachusetts Monument. The monument to Brigadier-General Andrew H. Humphreys is on the left. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 2:45 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
On the east side of the Emmitsburg Road is its intersection with Sickles’ Avenue. The monument to the 11th Massachusetts Regiment, on the left, was dedicated on October 8, 1885. The Electric Trolley tracks along the Emmitsburg Road are on the right. This photograph is courtesy of the National Park Service. This view was taken facing southeast between 1893 and 1916.
Six prominent Gettysburg monuments appear in this view. We’ll look at them from left to right. In the background on Cemetery Ridge is the monument to the U.S. Regulars. The Humphreys Monument is on the Emmitsburg Road. The Vermont State Monument is on Cemetery Ridge. The dome-shaped Pennsylvania State Memorial is on Cemetery Ridge. The 11th Massachusetts is on the Emmitsburg Road. Just to the right of the 11th Massachusetts, on Cemetery Ridge, is the light colored monument to the 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 2:45 PM on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
See the following related posts:
Peace Light Monument Mostly Cleaned of Vandalism on June 14, 2009.
It Has Now Been 145 Days Since the Peace Light was Vandalized on June 2, 2009.
153rd Pennsylvania Infantry Monument Update, and Peace Light Update on May 23, 2009.
Peace Light Cleaning Update: A Little More Progress on May 22, 2009.
Peace Light Cleaning Update: No Visible Progress on May 20, 2009.
Another Gettysburg Monument Vandalized on May 19, 2009.
Peace Light: Some Photographs Taken When the Vandalism was First Discovered on January 27, 2009.
Peace Light Monument Vandalism on January 10, 2009.
Eternal Light Peace Memorial Dedication Ceremony on January 1, 2009.
153rd Pennsylvania Monument on Barlow Knoll on September 14, 2008.
Red Cloths Finally Removed From Monuments on July 7, 2008.
Smith’s New York Battery Monument Still Awaits Restoration on May 31, 2008.
A New Type of Vandalism for Memorial Day on May 26, 2008.