The park is in the process of assessing the extent of the damage inflicted by an October 9th lightning strike to the 6th New York Cavalry monument, but early estimates are that it will cost in the vicinity of $100,000 to repair. The monument, located near the center of Buford Avenue, dates to 1889 and is composed of rough hewn and smooth granite, standing 26 feet high on a 14 by 10 foot base. It has a tower with turrets at each corner, horse heads capping its pilasters, a bronze relief on its west face, and an information tablet on its east side. Components of the stonework were blown free by the strike, and many others were displaced when mortar joints failed. The park’s preservation experts have stored loose pieces of the monument and plan to stabilize it for the winter season using straps and possibly tarps. According to Vic Gavin, the head of the park’s monument preservation branch, “the damage may be even worse inside the structure, where lightning superheated the moisture that is naturally present in the stone and mortar.” The monument may have to be totally disassembled and reconstructed, possibly using a private sector restoration firm. A park neighbor reported hearing the sharp thunderclap associated with a lightning strike near the monument during the storm. The last known lightning strike on a Gettysburg monument was in the 1930s on the 58th New York monument, located nearby.
