Syracuse’s ‘Sniper’ monument honors one of the city’s most illustrious, and forgotten, citizens

- The Sniper Monument. Designed by Charles Colton, the same man who designed City Hall. Sniper sits upon his horse, Bill. It took ten years to raise the requisite funds. In the years that followed, Sniper’s sword was stolen numerous times. The city stopped replacing it in the 1950s.   Onondaga Historical Association Onondaga Historical Association
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There is a small triangle of grass on Syracuse’s northside, bordered by North Salina, North State, and East Laurel streets.

This oasis of greenery amidst a sea of concrete, brick, and asphalt sitting just a block east of Interstate 81 is home to one of Syracuse’s most delightful curiosities: the city’s only equestrian statue, adorned with nothing other than the word “Sniper.”

This is not, as some have speculated, a memorial to a horse (though they may be forgiven, as Sniper is an excellent name for a horse. Sniper’s horse was named Bill). It is, in fact, a monument to U.S. Army General Gustavus Sniper, one of the Salt City’s most illustrious, if now largely forgotten, citizens.

Unveiled on Decoration Day, May 30, 1905, in what was then known as Schlosser Park, the Sniper Monument memorializes a man, who for his fellow Syracusans, particularly the immigrants and people of German descent who funded it, personified the exemplary values of dedication, patriotism, sacrifice and service that made him a nationally recognized hero during the Civil War.

Like so many American success stories, Gustavus Sniper’s story began elsewhere.

Born in in Baden-Wurttemberg in 1836, his parents, Joseph and Caroline, immigrated to Syracuse in 1842, then just a small but growing village of about 18,000 inhabitants, on the Erie Canal.

According to his obituary, Sniper was educated in the Syracuse public schools and continued his own education attending night school. As a teenager, he began to work in one of Syracuse’s numerous cigar making facilities, where he found steady and sustained employment until his destiny called him away.

- General Gustavus Sniper, circa 1885.   Onondaga Historical Association Onondaga Historical Association

Coming of age as he did amidst the tumult of the sectional crisis over slavery’s expansion in the 1850s, Sniper became an ardent supporter of the newly formed Republican Party devoted to stopping the spread of slavery.

During the controversy over the Kansas-Nebraska Act, ultimately another failed attempt to solve the slavery conflict in 1854, an eighteen-year-old Sniper began down the martial path that would define his life and legacy. He joined the Syracuse Light Guards, a militia unit, where he got his first taste of military life. He enjoyed the experience tremendously.

In the ensuing years, he continued to hold a variety of leadership positions in the Syracuse Grays and Davis light guards, as the prospect of armed conflict became increasingly apparent in the wake of a series of deadly skirmishes between anti-slavery and pro-slavery forces that began in 1856, known as “Bleeding Kansas.”

Among the fighters in Kansas was a man named John Brown and his sons, the men responsible for the failed raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia in October of 1859. While John Brown was busy planning his strike against slavery, Gustavus Sniper busied himself organizing a new militia regiment, the Munroe Cadets.

Thus, when his President, Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 troops on April 15, 1861, to meet the aggression of the Confederate forces and save the Union, Sniper was among the most enthusiastic and prepared responders. However, he was not alone. Onondaga County filled its first regiment quota so quickly, that Sniper was forced to join the second volunteer regiment, the 101st New York Volunteers.

The 101st joined the Army of the Potomac in the spring of 1862. Lt. Sniper and his brothers-in-arms were engaged in heavy fighting, including the Union Army’s defeat at Fredericksburg in December 1862. At the expiration of his enlistment, Sniper returned to Syracuse in 1863, married Catherine Miller, started a family, and, according to an advertisement in the Syracuse Journal on April 11, 1864, put his “war horse” up for sale. He would not be home for long.

Answering his nation’s call once again, Sniper re-enlisted in the 185th New York Volunteers, actively recruiting his fellow Syracusans for the fight to defeat Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and end the war. As second in command behind Col. Edwin Jenney, Lt. Col. Sniper and his men had, according to the “History of Onondaga County” published in 1875, the “peculiar fortune to be mustered into the service when hard fighting had to be done.”

Leaving Syracuse in late September 1864, the 185th New York met up with the Army of the Potomac at City Point on September 30 and were immediately called into action during the siege of Petersburg, Virginia. After the ignominious resignation of Col. Jenny in February, Sniper was promoted to Colonel and became the leader of the regiment for the remainder of the war.

Sniper gained his lasting fame at the battle of Quaker Road on March 29, 1865, as the Army of the Potomac continued its relentless pursuit of Lee’s army. In the face of heavy enemy fire, Sniper led a counterattack, charging directly into the Confederate onslaught.

In the fray, William Tyler, color bearer for the regiment, was shot. After two other men picked up the colors, each one meeting the same fate, Col. Sniper dismounted his horse and ran into the thick fog of gun smoke, grabbing the flag from his wounded men. He is said to have yelled, “Men of the 185th, forward!”

Following their colonel and their colors, they repelled the Confederates, but at a heavy cost. 180 men were killed or wounded in the fighting that lasted little more than thirty minutes.

Sniper’s heroic exploits won him the respect of his fellow officers and of the men under his command. As a result of his bravery, he was promoted to brevet brigadier general on March 30.

His name gained national recognition when his selfless and valorous deeds were immortalized in a line drawing in a special issue of “Harper’s Weekly,” entitled ”The Final Victory,” published in the wake of Lee’s surrender on April 9, 1865; a surrender that Sniper and the men of the 185th N.Y. Volunteers played an integral role in securing.

- The Lilly Post Civil War Memorial in Woodlawn Cemetery. Dedicated in 1887. General Sniper was one of the driving forces behind raising the funds for the monument.   Onondaga Historical Association Onondaga Historical Association

Col. Sniper returned to Syracuse on June 3, 1865, along with his men from the 185th and the illustrious 149th New York Volunteers, pulling into Vanderbilt Station with the torn and frayed remnant of the flag he held aloft at Quaker Roads (the flag is on display at the Onondaga County Courthouse). The city threw an incredible fete for their returning heroes in Hanover Square.

After the war, General Sniper’s reputation made him a natural fit for politics, where he continued to serve his community as staunch Republican.

In 1870, he was elected to the New York State Assembly and went on to serve three terms. That same year, he organized the Lilly Post Chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic.

In 1876, he became deputy in the county clerk’s office, and in 1882, he was elected county clerk. He held that office for nine years, whilst also working in the insurance industry.

In addition to his public service, Sniper was a constant and tireless advocate for veterans.

He was a driving force behind the myriad annual marches and commemorative ceremonies for the duration of life, which tragically ended abruptly in 1894. Sniper was found dead in his home at 504 North Prospect Street (the house is still extant) by his wife.

He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery and was survived by his wife and his two children.

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