Who is the bronze figure on horseback located in front of the Speaker Matthew J. Ryan Legislative Office Building?
The mounted figure is that of Major General John Frederick Hartranft (1830-1889). Hartranft served with distinction during the Civil War, first as Colonel of the 51st PA Vols., and later as division commander of the 9th Corp. At the end of the war he was in charge of Washington, D.C.’s Old Capitol Prison and the hanging of the Lincoln conspirators. Hartranft went on to serve two terms as governor of Pennsylvania. The statue originally stood in front of the Capitol building facing west but was moved to its current location in 1927.
