New-York tribune., 1903-03-08
GEN. BUTTERFIELD'S TOMB.
MEMORIAL ERECTED IN WEST POINT
CEMETERY.

In the military cemetery at West Point work
GBen have recently put IN place the monument
sOr Major General Daniel Butterfeld. To q
casual passerby the tomb has an appearance
AZ ughtness due to the sixteen slender columns
upon vhilh rests the superstruCture. Accord
tng 70 the scuIptors. however, the monument
contains the largest and heaviest block Of
pure zhite marble which has ever been quarried
En this country.
Though born in Utica, and for the most OF
his later years a resident Of this city, General
ButterdeId desired that his last resting place
should be at West Point Here ne was buried
and here bis wife has erected q tomb to his
memory. which, because Of the euinence on
which it stands and its own height Of thirty
five feet, commands the attention OF the visitor
as soon. as he enters the cemetery.
The pedestal Of the tomb consists Of a terrace,
the lower two steps Of which are OF one piece
Of granite with base fourteen feet square.
The upper part OF the pedestal is Of the white
marble Of which the suFerstTucture is also
ehiseiied and forms what is termed the third
base and the die. On this foundation stand
the sixteen slender col1mns with elaborately
decorated capitals, each Of which is ten feet
II height
Cpou the columns rests what sculptors call
the cay" chiselIed from block Of marble nine
feet SQUARE and three feet thick This part Of
the monument had to be hewn from the largest
layer OF marble in the quarry Of the Vermont
Marble Company, at Rutland, VT
To obtain marble for the base, the PILLARS
the cap and the four buttresses at the peak
Of the tomb an area Of one hundred feet square
had 10 be cleared on this layer which has an
average thickness Of twenty feet. Each piece
vas heved out separately and the oIock 1TOIH
wh.ch the cap was Chiselled was estimated TO
in he b
BY means ot special apparatus this great piece
Of rock was hoisted TO the ground where q
house was built about it and where wOrkrnen
labored upon it with chiseI and hammer for
three months At the end Of that time the
block had been transformed into q vaulted
roof open to the sky in the centre, with four
arches Joining its corners and decorated within
with the fronds OF palms and without with
symbolic images, including burning torches,
medals, scrolls bearing the letter 'B.' and the
badge OF the Fifth Army Corps. which the gen
eraI at one time commanded
Above the cap are The butIesses Of the peak
consisting Of four marble shafts which slightly
yaper toward the top, where they join Above
all instead Of the conventional dove are the
.o-tspread wings Of the eagle Of the Union
or. The. pillars are recorded forty-three battles
IL which General Butterield was engaged, and
On the face Of the die of the pedestal are in
sc-ibeC the dates of his birth and death
oct 81, 1S3I-JuIy Il, 1901" Within the
pillars stands a Greek urn which is engraved
The name '.Butt4-feId-'' The monument is TO be
Dedicated with appropriate ceremonies in the
spring- Its cost is estimated at S3jVp0
The monument stands in such position as
to be visible on any clear day from the windows
OF Ms BucterfeIds house at Cold Spring
across the Hudson River