A Light Caress
111th NY Monument at the Bryan Barn
"A Light Caress"
111th NY Monument at the Bryan Barn
Image Size 11" x 30"
Release Date: April 2002
Edition size 400: 40 A/P: 20 P/P
Price: $150.00 Each, Unframed
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“A LIGHT CARESS”
The 111th New York Infantry Monument Sometimes on Cemetery Ridge, The sunset gently caresses the now tranquil fields, Upon which transpired So much agony and glory For three days in July of 1863. Paul R. Martin III I have always marveled at the tranquil beauty of the Gettysburg Battlefield. For three days, twenty-five square miles of earth was torn and rent asunder by a divided nation thrown into the cauldron of battle. The passage of time has healed the scarred fields and woods, their wounds no longer evident. I like to think that these hallowed grounds have come to symbolize the unity, strength and grandeur of our nation, forged by the fire of civil war. “No one not of your number can conceive the emotions that must be aroused in you by the contrast between this peaceful scene and the fearful conflict that you witnessed here.” Benjamin B. Snow Dedication Speech June 26, 1891[i] Framed by the peach trees of Zeigler’s Grove, “A Light Caress” displays vividly the panoramic landscape of the battlefield in all its splendid glory. It is viewed from the crest of Cemetery Ridge looking toward Seminary Ridge, across the fields of the Grand Assault. The drawing honors the men of the 111th New York Infantry Regiment. Their monument, along with the Bryan Barn are dramatically silhouetted against a breathtaking and fiery sunset. The 111th New York Infantry Regiment was organized in Wayne and Cayuga Counties. They fought courageously along Cemetery Ridge during the 2nd and 3rd days of the battle. In their two days involvement at the Battle of Gettysburg, the 111th NY sustained a casualty rate of 71.7% with a fatality rate of 24.4%, the highest fatality rate of any federal regiment that participated in the battle. 95 of their 390 men were killed or mortally wounded.[ii] It was near their third day’s action that the 111th Memorial Association placed their monument at Gettysburg to honor their fallen comrades. Dedicated on June 26, 1891, the monument was sculpted by Caspar Buberl and stands at the spot where four color bearers and two officers were killed during the repulse of the Grand Assault.[iii] The sculpture represents a skirmisher out in front of the regiment’s line, his hand on the hammer, alert and prepared to fire. He stands, gazing forever across the fields of Pettigrew’s advance. Visible across the Emmitsburg Road, between the Bryan Barn and monument is the Bliss Barn site which was hotly contested during the battle. The 111th NY also sent several companies out as skirmishers in the fields around the Bliss Barn.[iv] “Jubilant as we were at the success of our brave defenders, we little realized then what we distinctly see now, that the grave of the Confederacy lay here, at the foot of Cemetery Ridge.” Benjamin B. Snow[v] The setting sun, symbolically foreshadowing the lost cause of the Confederacy, gently touches with “A Light Caress” the ground where the Confederate Army assembled for their assault. It would take two more years, but the road from Gettysburg led to Appomattox and ensured the United States “......A new birth of freedom, - that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Paul R. Martin III May, 1996 [i] Fox, William F. New York at Gettysburg. Albany NY: 1900. Vol. II, p. 801 [ii] Murray, R. L. The Redemption of the “Harper’s Ferry Cowards”. Wolcott, NY: 1994 p.165 [iii] Hawthorne, Frederick W. Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monuments. Hanover, PA: The Sheridan Press, 1988. p.127 [iv] Christ, Elwood. “Over a Wide, Hot...Crimson Plain”, The Struggle For The Bliss Farm At Gettysburg, July 2nd and 3rd 1863. Baltimore, MD: Butternut and Blue,1994. [v] New York at Gettysburg. Vol. II, p.802 |
