18. Colonel John Buford Monument
18. Col. John Buford was a friend of Andrew Jackson and presided at three or four national conventions in his time. He was born in Virginia in 1779. Two of his sons were major generals in the Civil War. One son, Major General John Buford, a cavalry general, chose the site of the battle of Gettysburg. His men fought and held their position there for three days until the Federal troops arrived.
His brother, Major General Napoleon Bonapart Buford, was a general on the western front. He is said to have bought the town of Rockport for his wife as an investment. They later renamed the town Andalusia. Though Napoleon Buford is buried here, his brother’s body rests at West Point. John was accorded the largest, and possibly the first, military funeral in Washington, D.C. , and a statue of him astride his horse, Grey Eagle, has been erected at Gettysburg.
