Henry Kirke Bush-Brown

Bush-Brown's first equestrian statue was a monument to Union General George Meade on the Gettysburg Battlefield, located close to the point where Pickett's Charge was repulsed.

Monument to General John F. Reynolds on the Gettysburg Battlefield; the horse has two feet raised, presenting problems of balance and construction.

Henry Kirke Bush-Brown (April 21, 1857 in Ogdensburg, New York –1935) was an American sculptor and the adopted nephew of sculptor Henry Kirke Brown. He was raised in Newburgh, New York and attended the National Academy of Design in New York City. He became known for historically accurate realist sculptures illustrating American history.

Bush-Brown married Margaret White Lesley, also a painter, with whom he had three surviving children; their daughter, Lydia, became a noted designer.

Henry K. Bush-Brown was the first president of the Arts Club of Washington.

Works at Gettysburg battlefield Bush-Brown produced three equestrian bronze sculptures at Gettysburg battlefield. The first equestrian statue ever produced by Bush-Brown was that of General George Meade, the victor at Gettysburg. Located on Hancock Avenue, it is near where "Meade watched his Union troops repulse the Confederate charge." This statue was created after two years of research, and portrays "Meade without a hat, as he appeared during the battle," in keeping with Bush-Brown's commitment to historical accuracy. Meade holds a pair of binoculars in his right hand and his hat in his left hand. A sword hangs from the left side of his saddle. The monument cost $37,500. The sculpture of Meade gazes across the battlefield toward the statue of his opponent, Robert E. Lee.

Following the production of Meade, Bush-Brown created a 9,000-pound monument of General John F. Reynolds (killed in action July 1, 1863), in which the horse has only two feet on the ground. This statue was dedicated in 1899 at a ceremony in which Bush-Brown, Reynolds' nephew, and Pennsylvania Governor William Stone were present. The sculpture is located approximately 1100 feet from the marker where Reynolds was killed.

Bush-Brown created numerous sculptures for the exterior of New York City's Beaux Arts 1907 Surrogate's Courthouse.

In 1910 he created a bronze statue of Mary Jemison, "The White Woman of the Genesee", which marks her grave in New York's Letchworth State Park.

Bush-Brown also produced a relief of financier and civic planner Cyrus Clark (1911), who was instrumental in the planning and development of New York City's Riverside Drive and Riverside Park. Brown's relief of Clark is embedded in a natural rock outcropping near the 83rd Street entrance to Riverside Park.

Authorship Apart from his numerous sculptures related to American history, Bush-Brown was also the author of an unpublished biographical manuscript detailing the life and work of his uncle. One copy of the manuscript is with the Bush-Brown family papers at Smith College and another is held by the Library of Congress. (See also Sophia Smith Collection.)

Death Bush-Brown died in Washington, D.C., and was buried in Baldwin Memorial United Methodist Church Cemetery in Millersville, Maryland.

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