The Battle of Gettysburg website, gettysburgfreemasons.org, FREEMASONRY.network, July 3, 2023
The Friend-to-Friend Monument depicts Confederate Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead, a Freemason, wounded after crossing the wall during the climax of Pickett’s Charge on July 3, 1863, being attended to by Union Captain Henry H. Bingham, also a Freemason.
The Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial is on the south side of Gettysburg. The monument was created by Ron Tunison. He also created the bas relief on the Delaware State Monument, the statue of General Crawford and the Women’s Memorial at Gettysburg and the bas reliefs on the Irish Brigade monument at Antietam.
Union General Winfield Scott Hancock and Confederate General Lewis Addison Armistead were personal friends and members of the Masonic Fraternity.
Although they had served and fought side by side in the United States army prior to the Civil War, Armistead refused to raise his sword against his fellow Southerners and joined the Confederate Army in 1861.
Both Hancock and Armistead fought heroically in the previous twenty-seven months of the war. They were destined to meet at Gettysburg.
During Pickett’s Charge, Armistead led his men gallantly, penetrating Hancock’s line. Ironically, when Armistead was mortally wounded, Hancock was also wounded.
Depicted in this sculpture is Union Captain Henry Bingham, a Mason and staff assistant to General Hancock, himself wounded, rendering aid to the fallen Confederate General. Armistead is shown handing his watch and personal effects to be taken to his friend, Union General Hancock.
Hancock survived the war and died in 1886. Armistead died at Gettysburg July 5, 1863. Captain Bingham attained the rank of General and later served 32 years in the United States House of Representatives. He was known as the “Father of the House.”
This story epitomizes some of the most time-honored virtues of Freemasonry and highlights the unique bonds of friendship, which enabled these men to remain brothers undivided. Even as they fought in a divided nation, they faithfully supported the respective governments under which they fought while seeking to help each other in their time of need.
