Caspar Buberl

• Name — Caspar Buberl • Born — 1834 • Birthplace — Kynšperk nad Ohří, Austrian Empire • Died — 22 August 1899 • Place of death — New York City, United States • Field — Sculpture

Born in Königsberg, Bohemia, (now Kynšperk nad Ohří, Czech Republic), as a young man Buberl studied art in Prague and Vienna before immigrating to the United States in 1854 to train under sculptor Robert Eberhard Launitz. He married Anna Stubner in 1856, and they had nine children. In 1882 Montgomery C. Meigs was chosen to design and construct the new Pension Building, now the National Building Museum, in Washington D. C. and, in doing so, broke away from the established Greco-Roman models that had been the basis of government buildings in Washington up until then, and was to continue to be following the Pension Building's completion. Meigs based his design on Italian Renaissance precedents, notably Rome's Palazzo Farnese and Plazzo della Cancelleria. • Illustration — Hillsboro, Ohio Civil War Monument Included in his design was a 1200 ft-long sculptured frieze executed by Buberl. Since creating a work of sculpture of that size was well out of Meigs' budget, he had Buberl create 28 different scenes [totaling 69 ft in length), which were then mixed and slightly modified to create the continuous parade that includes over 1,300 individual figures. Because of the way that the 28 sections were modified and intermixed, it is only by somewhat careful examination that the frieze reveals itself to be the same figures repeated some eighteen times. The sculpture includes infantry, navy, artillery, cavalry and medical components as well as a good deal of the supply and quartermaster functions, since Meigs had overseen the latter two functions during the Civil War. Meigs insisted that any teamster included in the Quartermaster panel "must be a negro, a plantation slave, freed by war". This figure was ultimately to assume a position in the center, over the west entrance to the building. Buberl created dozens of Civil War statues and monuments for various cities and states, including several for New York veterans associations to be placed on the Gettysburg Battlefield and a bronze bust of President Abraham Lincoln, which was recently sold for $5,800. His impressive New York State Monument crowns Cemetery Hill, and a number of individual memorials for specific regiments dot the battlefield. He died at his studio in New York City. • Illustration — 111th NY Infantry Monument

• 9th New York Cavalry Monument – dedicated July 1, 1888 • 4th New York Independent Battery – dedicated July 2, 1888 • 5th New York Cavalry Monument – dedicated July 3, 1888 • 126th New York Infantry – dedicated October 3, 1888 • 10th New York Cavalry Monument – dedicated October 9, 1888 • 54th New York Infantry – dedicated July 4, 1890 • 111th New York Infantry Monument – dedicated June 26, 1891 • New York State Monument – dedicated July 2, 1893 • 41st New York Infantry – dedicated July 3, 1893 • 52nd New York Infantry – dedicated July 3, 1893 • Illustration — New York State Monument • Illustration — Figure of Liberty atop the NY State Monument • Illustration — Death of General Reynolds, detail of the NY State Monument

• Illustration — Howitzer Monument • Civil War Monument, Manchester, New Hampshire, George Keller, architect, 1879 • Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Buffalo, New York, George Keller, architect, 1884 • Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Nashua, New Hampshire, 1889 • Alexandria Confederate Memorial, Alexandria, Virginia, 1889 • Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Troy, New York, 1890. • Four relief panels: Cavalry, Artillery, Infantry, The Monitor and the Merrimac • A.P. Hill Monument, Richmond, Virginia, 1892 • Howitzer Monument, Richmond, Virginia, 1892 • Confederate Monument, University of Virginia Cemetery, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1893 • Raphael Semmes Monument, Mobile, Alabama, 1899

• Illustration — National Building Museum • Illustration — Corner figures • Illustration — South entrance • Illustration — Black teamster

• Fulton Memorial, Fulton Park, Brooklyn, New York, 1872 • Fireman's Memorial, Church Square Park, Hoboken, New Jersey, 1891 • Dewey Triumphal Arch, Spanish–American War, New York City, 1899

• Illustration — James A. Garfield Memorial, Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio, 1890, George Keller, architect • Illustration — James A. Garfield Memorial detail – Garfield, the Educator • Illustration — James A. Garfield Memorial detail – Garfield, the Civil War Hero • Illustration — James A. Garfield Memorial detail – Garfield, the Martyred President

• Illustration — Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, Hartford, Connecticut, 1885, George Keller, architect • Illustration — Hartford detail

• Illustration — Buffalo Civil War Monument, 1883 • Illustration — Detail • Illustration — Detail • Illustration — Detail