Sharpshooter Monument Rededication Is Nov. 18
GETTYSBURG, Pa.

Rededication of the monument to Co. F, 1st U.S. Sharpshooters, will be held Saturday, Nov. 18, at 9 a.m. during Gettysburg's Remembrance Day Weekend.

In 1994, the marble monument to Co. F, a Vermont company which was attached to Dan Sickles' Third Corps during the battle of Gettysburg, was severely damaged in a wind storm. The 1887 monument, located west of West Confederate Avenue in Pitzer Woods, was toppled by a falling tree. The fluted column was broken in two and a carved eagle at the top of the column was smashed.

For six years, only the remaining base stood on the ground where the Vermonters exchanged fire with Wilcox's Brigade of Alabamians at midday on July 2, 1863.

Through a collaborative effort by the National Park Service and Gettysburg National Military Park, the Berdan's Sharpshooter Preservation Association (BSPA) of Gettysburg led by Tom Winter Jr., stone carver Tom Vanacore of Bridport, Vt., the Vermont Legislature, the Vermont National Guard, and preservationists from around the country the monument has been restored.

Starting in 1997, the BSPA raised over $8,000 for the restoration. In the spring of 1999, the Vermont Legislature allocated $12,000 to help with the project. With park permission the column was trucked to Vermont to be refabricated and Vanacore carved a new eagle from a block of Danby White marble. With help from the Vermont National Guard, the entire monument was transported back to Gettysburg and put back in place June 25.

Representatives from Gettysburg NMP, the BSPA, Vermont state government, the Vermont National Guard, and others will take part in the rededication ceremony featuring reenactors, music and the reading of soldiers' letters describing the action in Pitzer Woods.