Soldiers' National Monument

Soldiers' National Monument
historic district contributing structure[1]
Southward view of monument at the center of the semicircle of Gettysburg graves of the Union's Army of the Potomac (midground) and beyond subsequent veteran graves (foreground) added to the cemetery.
Country United States
State Pennsylvania
County Adams
NPS unit Gettysburg NMP
Park District Gettysburg National Cemetery
Landform Cemetery Hill
Location Gettysburg Address site [1]
 - elevation 624.8 ft (190.4 m) [2]
 - coordinates  [3]
Width 25 ft (8 m)  -square base[1]
Height 60 ft (18 m) [1]
Cornerstone
Contracted
Dedicated[4]
"Plenty" statue		 July 4, 1865 (July 4, 1865)[1]
May 1866
July 1, 1869
August 26, 1869
Owner
Sculptor		 National Park Service
Randolph Rogers [1]
Access
(walkways)		 Cemetery gates @ Baltimore
Pike & Taneytown Road
Historic District
Ent'd-Doc'd
LCS/GNMP IDs		 75000155
01/23/2004
009949/MN288 [1]

The Soldiers' National Monument is a Gettysburg Battlefield memorial that honors the battle's soldiers and tells an allegory of "peace and plenty under freedom … following a heroic struggle."[1] In addition to an inscription with the last 4 lines of the Gettysburg Address, the shaft with 4 buttresses has 5 statues:[6]:166

"A large statue representing the concept of Liberty surmounts the pedestal. Eighteen large bronze stars circling the pedestal below this statue represent the eighteen Union states with buried dead. Four statues are located at each corner near the base. They represent War, History, Peace, and Plenty. War is represented by a statue of an American soldier who recounts the story of the battle to History. In turn, History records, with stylus and tablet, the achievements of the battle and the names of the honored dead. A statue of an American mechanic and his tools illustrates Peace. Plenty is a female figure with a sheaf of wheat and the fruits of the earth that typify peace and abundance as the soldier's crowning triumph."[1]

History

Appropriations to the Gettysburg Soldiers' National Monument Association were approved on March 14, 1865;[7] and in May, David Wills invited veterans organizations for the extensive July 4 cornerstone ceremony[8] (lithographs of the "design proposed by J. G. Batterson"[6]:10 were available by July 19, 1865.)[9] The monument structure was built at Batterson's works at Westerly, Rhode Island,[9] and the Genius of Liberty[4] grasping sword and laurel wreath[10] was sculpted in Rome.[4] The monument without the "Plenty" or "Peace" statues[4] was dedicated in 1869 with the prayer by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, followed by an address by Gen. George G. Meade, oration by Senator Oliver P. Morton, and poem by Bayard Taylor.[11] The monument's "Plenty" statue was placed on August 26, 1869;[12] and a record of the cornerstone and dedication ceremonies was published in 1874.[13]

External videos
1955 MGM film (minute 9:09)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Soldiers' National Monument". (MN288) List of Classified Structures (GETT p. 21). National Park Service. http://www.hscl.cr.nps.gov/insidenps/report.asp?PARK=GETT&RECORDNO=516. Retrieved 2011-06-22. "First monument erected at Gettysburg to honor all soldiers at Gettysburg . Sits on site of speaker's platform where Gettysburg Address was orated. … Stepped base, 25'sq. Square multipart shaft w/ 4 statues at each angle apex … Mixture of excised & incised inscriptions. All 60'H. … central focal point on the high ground from which the semicircular rows of graves radiate. The monument was meant to tell a story of peace and plenty under freedom and the blessings of liberty following a heroic struggle." 
  2. ^ "X_Value=-77.231217&Y_Value=39.819767". USGS Elevation Web Service Query. United States Geological Survey. http://gisdata.usgs.gov/xmlwebservices2/elevation_service.asmx/getElevation?X_Value=-77.231217&Y_Value=39.819767&Elevation_Units=FEET&Source_Layer=-1&Elevation_Only=FALSE. Retrieved 2011-06-24. 
  3. ^ Swain, Craig (March 8, 2009). "Soldiers' National Monument" (HMdb.org webpage, marker 16864). http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=16864. Retrieved 2011-06-23. "… of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” - Lincoln. November 13th [sic] 1863."      NOTE: The webpage's photo shows the inscribed date is the correct "19th", not the webpage's "13th".
  4. ^ a b c d "Gettysburg: Preparations for the Dedication of the Soldiers' Monument". New York Times. June 26, 1869--published June 28. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FA0F12FD3B5E1A7493CAAB178DD85F4D8684F9. Retrieved 2011-06-25. "Board of Commissioners of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg … most imposing memento of the Civil War anywhere in the country … the marble of both [War & History] statues has been badly disfigured during the passage across the ocean" 
  5. ^ "Soldiers' National Monument". Art Inventories Catalog. Smithsonian American Art Museum. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=128420DR334X1.22125&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!334777~!245&ri=3&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Gettysburg+National+Military+Park&index=.GW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=3&limitbox_1=LO01+=+ias#focus. Retrieved 2011-06-24. 
  6. ^ a b "Description of the Gettysburg Monument" (Google Books--transcription available at Archive.org). Soldiers' National Cemetery, at Gettysburg. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Singerly & Myers, State Printers. 1867 revision. http://books.google.com/books?oe=UTF-8&id=N3MmMWsnGTwC&pg=PA166. Retrieved 2011-06-24. 
  7. ^ "General Assembly: January Session--At Providence. Senate." (Google News Archive). The Providence Evening Press (Providence Press Company). March 14, 1865. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZoZcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NVcNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5495,816226&dq=soldiers-national-monument+gettysburg&hl=en. Retrieved 2011-06-23. "a resolution making an additional appropriation for the Gettysburg Soldiers' National Monument Association, which was read and passed." 
  8. ^ "The Soldiers' National Monument at Gettysburg". The New York Times. May 31, 1869. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F70E1FFF385E1A7493C3AA178ED85F4D8684F9. Retrieved 2011-06-25. 
  9. ^ a b "tbd" (Google News Archive). tbd. tbd. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1600&bih=727&noj=1&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_max%3A1893&tbm=nws&q=%22Batterson%22+gettysburg&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=. Retrieved tbd. 
  10. ^ "Battle of Gettysburg: The Leading Facts" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Compiler. September 30, 1875. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=z24mAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5_8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4055,5668187&dq=soldiers-national-monument+gettysburg&hl=en. Retrieved 2011-06-24. "The centre of a semi-circle is occupied by the Soldiers' National Monument, a massive pile of white granite with a shaft sixty feet high, surmounted by a colossal marble statue of Liberty, holding in one hand a sword, and in the other the wreath of laurel." 
  11. ^ "News of the Day: General". New York Times. July 2, 1869. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A15F73A581A7493C0A9178CD85F4D8684F9. Retrieved 2011-06-23. 
  12. ^ "Gettysburg: The Reunion on the Field". The New York Times. August 27, 1869. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FB0E12F93558147B93C5AB1783D85F4D8684F9. Retrieved 2011-06-25. "The marble statue, representing "Plenty," was to-day placed on the monument in the Soldiers' Cemetery. The remaining corner will be occupied by that of "Peace." The statues of "War" and "History" have for some time been in position." 
  13. ^ Bartlett, John Russell (1874). The Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg…the Monument…dedication. Providence, Rhode Island. http://books.google.com/books?id=QAgTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA85. "Privately printed and for distribution to the Board of Commissioners of the Cemetery."