Rising over Lafayette Square in Buffalo, New York, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument lifts its stone lady above you. It was the work of sculptor Casper Buberl and architect George Keller. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1882, and the monument was dedicated on July 4, 1884.
Its shaft supports a 10-foot-6-inch female figure — a "nameless stone lady, 'emblematic of Buffalo'. Below her, four 8-foot bronze statues, sculpted by Caspar Buberl, represent the infantry, artillery, cavalry and navy, and face the four cardinal points. Bronze bas-reliefs encircle the column above the statues.
On the west, the dedication on the Main Street side honors those who laid down their lives "in the war to maintain the union for the cause of their country and of mankind. Half of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address graces the east side. Several bas-relief panels feature scenes of Lincoln's original cabinet — Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase, Secretary of State William H. Seward, Attorney General Edward Bates, Postmaster General Montgomery Blair, Secretary of the Interior Caleb Smith, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, and Major General Winfield Scott.
Picture the four bronze figures guarding the shaft's base, each one facing a different cardinal point beneath the nameless lady.