Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial

Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial
historic district contributing structure
Plaque on back of memorial's base
Country United States
State Pennsylvania
County Adams
HD & NPS unit Gettysburg HD & NMP
Borough Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Park District Gettysburg National Cemetery
Landform Cemetery Hill
Parts sculpture & base w/ plaque
Elevation 591 ft (180 m) [1]
Coordinates
Sculptor
Funding		 Ron Tunison
Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania[2]
Material sculpture: polychrome bronze[3]
Dedicated
Designated		 August 21, 1993
January 23, 2004 (contributing structure)
Owner National Park Service
Access annex sidewalks
Wikimedia Commons: Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial

The Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial is a Gettysburg Battlefield monument depicting the "Armistead-Bingham incident"[2] after Pickett's Charge[4] in which Union Army Captain Henry H. Bingham assisted mortally-wounded Confederate Brigadier General Lewis Addison Armistead, both Freemasons. Although Armistead's sword was captured and later returned in 1906,[5] Armistead entrusted other personal effects (e.g., a pocket watch) with Bingham after Armistead was shot twice ("as he went down he gave a Masonic sign asking for assistance").[6] En route to the Spangler Farm field hospital where he died 2 days later,[7][8] Armistead briefly met Winfield Scott Hancock, a Freemason brother and close Federal colleague from before the war.[3]

The initial record that documented this memorial's depiction had been written by 1870 when James Walker painted the 20 × 7.5 ft (6.1 × 2.3 m) The Repulse of Longstreet's Assault at the Battle of Gettysburg[4] with "Armistead, mortally wounded, is seated on the grass, and is in the act of giving his watch and spurs to his friend, Captain Bingham."[5] The Lewis A. Armistead marker was placed at the high water mark of the Confederacy in 1887, and Gettysburg (1993 film) dramatized the meeting (also at the location where Armistead fell): "Tell General Hancock for me that I have done him and you all an injury which I shall regret the longest day I live."[6]

Memorial description

The sculpture depicts Bingham at the side of Armistead.

External media
Images
DC memorials images
Videos
image in YouTube video

References

  1. ^ "X_Value=-77.231806&Y_Value=39.820972". USGS Elevation Web Service Query. United States Geological Survey. http://gisdata.usgs.gov/xmlwebservices2/elevation_service.asmx/getElevation?X_Value=-77.231806&Y_Value=39.820972&Elevation_Units=FEET&Source_Layer=-1&Elevation_Only=FALSE. Retrieved 2011-06-24. 
  2. ^ Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial
  3. ^ Commissioned Bronze Monuments by Ron Tunison
  4. ^ Junkin, David Xavier (1880). The Life of Winfield Scott Hancock. D. Appleton and Co. p. 117. http://www.archive.org/details/lifeofwinfieldsc00injunk. Retrieved 2011-09-04. "As he was being carried to the rear, he was met by Captain Harry Bingham, of Hancock's staff, who, getting off his horse, asked him if he could do anything for him. Armistead replied to take his watch and spurs to General Hancock, that they might be sent to his relatives. His wishes were complied with, General Hancock sending them to his friends at the first opportunity. " 
  5. ^ Frazier, John W (1906) (Google Books). Reunion of the Blue and Gray: Philadelphia Brigade and Pickett's Division. Philadelphia: Ware Bros, Company, Printers. http://books.google.com/books?id=QeNYAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA10. Retrieved 2011-02-06. 
  6. ^ "Masons at the Battle of Gettysburgand the Masonic Friend to Friend Monument". Gettysburg. Bessel.org. http://www.bessel.org/gettysbg.htm. Retrieved 2011-09-04. 
  7. ^ Wolf Run Studio - Friend to Friend Memorial Notecards     NOTE: "Colonel Martin was shot through the body and fell with Armistead."[1]
  8. ^ Images: Past and Present : photos : Gettysburg National Cemetery- powered by SmugMug

External links

GNMP website for memorial(s) (List of Classified Structures)