A monumental effort

The Culpeper National Cemetery hosts a pilot program this week focused on the proper restoration of monuments, namely those from the Civil War era.

More than a dozen officials from the Culpeper, Baltimore, Quantico, West Virginia and Poplar Grove national cemeteries will participate in the four-day program that will include hands-on rehab of the Pennsylvania Monument.

Erected by the state of Pennsylvania in 1910, the stone memorial, topped with a decorative sphere, stands 28 feet, six inches high, making it the tallest monument in the Culpeper National Cemetery.

“Pennsylvania remembers the fallen proud, her heroic sons who here repose in known and unknown graves for their sacrifices that will be an inspiration to the people and promote further virtue, love of liberty, peace, prosperity and happiness in all the states,” the front of the statue reads.

On its side is listed the many Civil War battles in Culpeper that Pennsylvania troops participated in including Cedar Mountain (August, 1862), Brandy Station (June, 1863) and Culpeper Courthouse (September, 1863).

More than 100 names of Pennsylvania soldiers interred in the Culpeper cemetery during the 1860s are etched on another side, including Pvt. Thomas Thomas, who died August 9, 1862, the date of the Battle of Cedar Mountain.

Culpeper National Cemetery Director Terrie Smith spearheaded the monument restoration program as part of her work with the National Cemetery Administration’s organizational assessment and improvement team. In that capacity, she’s traveled the country visiting other national cemeteries assessing needs and possible projects.

“One of the things we have here is the big old monuments and we want to take care of them and not let them fall apart,” Smith said. “Instead of using Brasso and ruining these, we’re going to do it the right way.”

The Culpeper National Cemetery was established in 1867; its oldest section includes four other monuments to Civil War dead from N.Y., Mass., Maine and Ohio. One of the cemetery’s original burial sections was set aside for the graves of 912 unknown Civil War soldiers.

Smith is excited about getting to work on the Pa. monument — it hasn’t had any maintenance in the past two decades — as well as the implications of beginning a restoration program at national cemeteries across the country.

“I’ve been looking at these monuments the last three years and I knew they needed help so I kept asking,” she said. “Hopefully, we can start something here and we can start taking care of these cemeteries.”

Vic Gavin, a National Park Ranger at the Gettysburg National Military Park, oversees the maintenance of 1,320 monuments at Gettysburg — the largest collection of outdoor sculpture in the world, he said. He brings his know-how to Culpeper this week as an instructor for the monument rehab program.

“Throughout the country, especially on the east coast, you have a lot of monuments from the post-Civil War era that have been neglected,” Gavin said Monday, standing in the Culpeper National Cemetery.

The monuments either receive scant or improper care, he said, while enduring natural wear and tear or vandalism in some cases. In addition, many brass monuments are treated with inappropriate and/or aggressive techniques, Gavin said.

Monument treatment methods through the years have since been refined, he said, and that’s what he hopes to share during this week’s classes.

So what’s Gavin’s single most important piece of advice when restoring old monuments?

“Know when to stop,” he said.

The Pennsylvania monument in Culpeper is not in “horrendous” shape, Gavin said, but it definitely needs attention. Most monuments of its type were funded or pushed through by Civil War veterans, he said, primarily during the 1880s.

Restoring the monuments properly, more than a century later in some cases is relatively low cost work in terms of materials, Gavin said.

Dennis Montagna with the National Park Service office in Philadelphia, one of the week’s other instructors, said the business of monument restoration is rewarding work.

“We are hoping this will be a pilot (program) for future ones put on by the cemetery administration,” he said. “This is our first attempt so basically you’ve got two federal agencies trying to get together and get something going.”

Taking on the Pennsylvania monument restoration is an ambitious project indeed, Montagna said, considering its size.

“But it’s very satisfying work because you really can see a difference from before you started.”

Wednesday and Thursday will see the most hands-on work in the Culpeper National Cemetery. This will include cleaning the monument’s stones, raking out deteriorated mortar joints and repointing the mostly masonry structure.

On Friday, program participants will clean the monument’s bronze panels, said Gary Moore, cemetery rep.

Check out the weekend’s Star-Exponent for “after” photos of the restored Pennsylvania Monument.

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or

At-a-glance
Culpeper National Cemetery
* Established 1867
* Originally contained six burial sections, including one for graves of 912 unknown soldiers of the Civil War
Monuments in the cemetery:
* The Pennsylvania Monument, erected by the state of Pa. in 1910, stands more than 28-feet high making it the tallest monument in the cemetery
* The New York Monument, 26-feet high, erected 1901
* Massachusetts Monument, four-feet-tall, erected 1893 by the Second Mass. Infantry
* Maine Monument, six-feet-tall, erected by the U.S. government in memory of the 22 officers and soldiers of the 10th Maine Volunteer Infantry killed at Cedar Mountain, Aug. 9, 1862
* Ohio Monument erected by the Seventh Ohio Regimental Association, date unknown