The statue of John Buford, erected in 1892 and dedicated in 1895, stands over this group of Civil War veterans who have returned to Gettysburg. To the right rear is the equestrian statue of John Reynolds, killed on July 1 after he had come to Buford’s aid in delaying the Confederate advance. The guns clustered around the base of the Buford monument belonged to Calef’s Battery A 2^nd US Artillery, who fought as horse artillery with Buford. The cannon barrel on the right, serving as a bench for some of the veterans, is the barrel tracked down by Calef after the war on the basis of serial number and identified as the piece that fired the first Union artillery round of the battle.

Many of the figures wear reunion medals of some sort. All eight figures in the back row and the man seated on the ground at left are the right age for veterans. The man seated on the ground at right and the woman in the center are likely relatives: the man seems to wear badges of some sort, but to be too young to be a veteran.

There is no identification with the image, but they are likely members of Buford’s cavalry division. A negative number (1416) appears at left in the image. We thought for a moment about it being a Tipton photographic number, but the corresponding image in his catalog dates to 1893, which is too early for this image (and refers to NY engineers, who were not in this area during the battle.) The age of the veterans and the dress of the man on the ground at right suggest a date after 1900, as does the fact that the Reynolds monument in the background was dedicated in 1899.

The image is very clear, has good tones, and is well presented in a gilt frame.  Photo measures approx. 9” x 7”; frame measures 16 ¾” x 13 ¾”. There is a small ¼” long tear inward from the edge of the image, above and just to the left of the Buford statue, and an even small tear inward from the bottom edge.

There is still a good chance that some detective work, and some luck, might identify this group. There is a very good chance, given where they are posed, that they fought with Buford’s cavalry in the first day’s fight, struggling to slow down the Confederate advance until Union infantry could come up.  [sr]

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