(April 2006) GETTYSBURG, Pa. - In the worst spree of vandalism ever to strike Gettysburg National Military Park, three monuments, including two major bronze figures, were pulled down the night of Feb. 15 or the early-morning hours of the 16th.

The 7-foot-high bronze artilleryman representing the 4th N.Y. Independent Battery, Smith's Battery, at Devil's Den was pulled off its base and dragged 162 feet south along the park road. The head of the statue was taken, along with the rammer. The statue is the original, dedicated July 2, 1888. The park has no copy.

The two other incidents occurred right on busy Emmitsburg Road. The 14-foot-high monument to the 11th Massachusetts Infantry stands at the corner of Emmitsburg and Sickles Avenue. It featured a stone arm brandishing a curved bronze sword. The arm was pulled from its tall pedestal and smashed on the road beneath. The bronze sword was taken. The arm was also original, dedicated in 1885. The park has no copy.

The third monument, which has stood nearby in the yard of the Sherfy House on Emmitsburg Road since its dedication on July 2, 1886, was to the Collis Zouaves, the 114th Pennsylvania Infantry. The life-sized bronze figure was pulled off its base and fell onto a decorative iron fence, damaging the fence.

The least damaged of the three monuments, the Zouave suffered scrapes and other cosmetic damage. But the ramrod was taken from the figure, which represents a bare-headed Zouave ramming home a cartridge in the course of the heavy fighting that the unit was involved in around the Sherfy House on July 2, 1863.

Park monument preservation staff reset the repaired figure on the pedestal March 9. The fence has not been repaired yet.

"Everybody's pretty sad and upset, and pretty angry as well," said park spokesman Katie Lawhon. "We're committed to fixing the damage." She noted that the park has no funds for the $60,000 to $70,000 in repairs and will have to count on private donations.

Lawhon said word of the vandalism spread quickly, with an AP story flying across the country and around the world by lunchtime on the 16th. "This touches a chord with people," she said.

The Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides called attention to the vandalism by hosting a free battlefield walk on March 11 that focused on the three monuments and the units they honored. As is usually the case in vandalism incidents at the park, the park's law-enforcement officers had no leads at presstime, despite a $30,000 reward offered by Friends of the National Parks at Gettysburg. The park is cooperating with state and local officers.

Friends spokesman Dru Anne Neil said, "We knew immediately we needed to do something. We are just devastated by this senseless destruction. These monuments were put here by the soldiers who fought here. We feel we need to fight for their memories."

The reward money was raised from a coalition put together by the Friends that also includes the Gettysburg National Battlefield Museum Foundation, the Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides and the Gettysburg Civil War Round Table.

"We were thrilled. We expect it to grow," said Neil of the $30,000 total. "We said, 'Let's get out there with a large sum of money and maybe that will be an incentive'" for someone to come forward. The reward will be paid to anyone providing information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the vandals.

Adams County Crime Stoppers, a private group that often provides rewards for information, is offering another $6,000 for information on the vandalism. Of that, $1,000 comes from the Crime Stoppers program and the other $5,000 was offered by local businessman David LeVan, who is a principal in the controversial effort to build a casino near the battlefield.

Lawhon noted that as all three monuments were over 100 years old, vandalism to them comprises a felony under the federal Archaeological Resources Protection Act, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Pennsylvania State Rep. Harry Readshaw (D-Allegheny), a longtime supporter of the park's monuments, leaped into action after the incident. Readshaw has spearheaded a decade-long effort to refurbish all 140 Pennsylvania monuments and markers on the field.

"These are icons of freedom," said Readshaw, a former Marine. Their significance "goes well beyond" mere stone and bronze. "We have to understand who and what they represent."

At presstime Readshaw was planning to introduce a resolution in the state legislature calling on Congress to set minimum penalties for violations of the federal law. "Hopefully it will motivate Congress," he said, adding that penalties in such cases often amount to little more than a slap on the wrist.

Readshaw is also raising repair funds for the three monuments. Proceeds from the March 25 annual Civil War Preservation Ball, held in the rotunda of the state capitol at Harrisburg, will be diverted from an endowment that Readshaw is raising for preservation of the Pennsylvania monuments and instead will be funneled to his new Gettysburg Monuments Repair Fund.

Those wishing to donate may send checks to the fund care of Rep. Harry Readshaw, 122 Irvis Office Building, House Box 202020, Harrisburg, PA 17120-2020. Information about the monument repair fund and ball can be obtained from Readshaw's Harrisburg office at (717) 783-0411 or Gettysburg@pahouse.net.

Lawhon said repairs to the two severely damaged monuments and the historic fence would cost between $57,000 and $67,000.

In-house repair of the 114th Pennsylvania infantryman cost more than $5,000, according to Lawhon. That included 130 hours of labor by three preservation specialists at an average labor cost of $40 an hour, about $200 in materials and crane rental.

The Collis Zouaves monument stood 12 feet 8 inches high. Its fall was cushioned by the iron fence. A section of the historic fence, dating from the 1880s, was badly bent and its repair will cost another $2,000.

Col. Charles Collis commanded the 114th Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, and was so moved by the memory that he built a home there after the war. Named Red Patch, it still stands on Confederate Avenue.

The park recovered what it could of the 11th Massachusetts Infantry Monument smashed granite arm, which measured about 20 inches long, Lawhon said, but part of the hand was missing. Replicating it "will be very difficult."

She said upper granite capital detail pulled and toppled, shattering the carved stone details. The bronze sword, replaced in 1998, and granite forearm and fist were taken. Estimated cost is $25,000 to 30,000. The monument was dedicated Oct. 8, 1885.

The bronze artilleryman representing Smith's Battery was pulled over several years ago but escaped damage. This time, unless the head and rammer are returned, the park will have to use photographs to try to replicate the missing parts. The statue also suffered abrasions and dents from being dragged along the road.

Lawhon said, "The bronzework sustained severe damage, and critical components, such as the head and rammer were apparently stolen by the vandals. Extensive replication will be required if the head is not recovered." Estimated cost for repairs is $30,000-$35,000.

Lawhon noted that when foundries struck such bronzes, they often made copies that went elsewhere. "It's possible there's a copy out there," which could provide an accurate replica of the head and ramrod.

Until this incident the Smith's Battery monument stood 12 feet high and was one of the most compelling at Devil's Den.

Neil, of the Friends, said if the $30,000 reward goes unclaimed, it will be turned over to the park for repairs of the three monuments. She said the Friends may also mount a campaign to raise repair money. She noted that David LeVan, through his attorney, has offered to match repair funds that the Friends raise, dollar-for-dollar, up to $25,000.

Neil said Friends members from across the country were contacting the organization. "People are very angry," she said. The response has prompted the Friends to embrace "a staunch commitment to do anything we can to get justice."

Lawhon said the park is also accepting donations toward repairs of the three monuments. Checks, earmarked "for the three vandalized monuments," should be made out to DOI-NPS (which stands for Department of the Interior, National Park Service), and sent to Gettysburg National Military Park, 97 Taneytown Rd., Gettysburg, PA 17325.

Anyone with information on the vandalism is asked to call the park at (717) 334-0909.

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