General William Tecumseh Sherman Monument


The General William Tecumseh Sherman Monument is an equestrian statue of American Civil War Major General William Tecumseh Sherman located in Sherman Plaza, which is part of President's Park in Washington, D.C., in the United States. The selection of an artist in 1896 to design the monument was highly controversial. During the monument's design phase, artist Carl Rohl-Smith died, and his memorial was finished by a number of other sculptors. The Sherman statue was unveiled in 1903. It is a contributing property to the Civil War Monuments in Washington, D.C. and to the President's Park South, both of which are historic sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Genesis of the monument, and design controversy

Sherman died on February 14, 1891. Within days, the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, a veterans' group for those who served in the Army of the Tennessee, began planning for a memorial to their late commander. At the society's annual meeting in October 1891, the members of the society resolved to ask Congress to contribute $50,000 to a memorial and to establish a Sherman Memorial Commission. On July 5, 1892, Congress enacted legislation establishing the Sherman Monument Commission. The three commission members were the president of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, the Secretary of War, and the Commander of the United States Army. The Society of the Army of the Tennessee agreed to raise $50,000. The society contacted its own members as well as those of other veterans groups such as the Grand Army of the Republic, Society of the Army of the Potomac, Society of the Army of the Ohio, Society of the Army of the Cumberland, and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. However, the fund-raising appeal netted just $14,469.91. Congress was forced to double its contribution in order to make up the difference.
In 1895, the Sherman Memorial Commission issued a call for proposals. It specified an equestrian statue, and limited the competition to American artists. A committee of the National Sculpture Society agreed to judge the submissions. When the competition closed on December 31, 1894, 23 sculptors had submitted proposals. These included Paul Wayland Bartlett, Henry Jackson Ellicott and William Bruce Gray, Adrian Jones of New York, Fernando Miranda, L. Mullgardt, Charles Henry Niehaus, Victor Olsa, William Ordway Partridge, and J. Massey Rhind. All the proposed memorials were exhibited in Washington, D.C., to large crowds. The submission by Carl Rohl-Smith generated the most popular acclaim. The National Sculpture Society judging committee consisted of Daniel Chester French, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and John Quincy Adams Ward. The committee narrowed the submissions down to a short list of four: Bartlett, Niehaus, Partridge, and Rhind. The submission by Carl Rohl-Smith did not make the short list. It was ranked almost dead last by the NSS committee.
On May 27, the memorial commission of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee overruled the NSS judging committee and chose the Carl Rohl-Smith design. The National Sculpture Society was outraged, and protested the award strongly to the society and the press. Several newspapers also protested the award. The New York Times called the decision "one of the most discreditable events ever in the annals of the public art of the United States". Senator Edward O. Wolcott sponsored legislation to investigate the award process. Although his resolution was not successful, the Senate debate over the award process was rancorous and showed the Senate's deep distrust of "art experts". Rohl-Smith was accused of using political influence to win the commission, an accusation he vehemently denied. After two months of protests, the National Sculpture Society ceased to contest the award.

Design, construction, and dedication

Carl Rohl-Smith never saw his statue completed. He died in August 1900. Although the government determined that the contract with Rohl-Smith was null after his death, the memorial committee agreed to allow Rohl-Smith's assistant and wife, Sara, to oversee the statue's completion. Mrs. Rohl-Smith asked sculptors Theo Kitson, Henry Kirke Bush-Brown, and Jens Ferdinand Willumsen to help with the statue's completion. Later reports do not mention Bush-Brown or Willumsen's work on the monument, but Lauritz Jensen worked on the main statue, while Danish sculptor Stephen Sinding modelled the 'War and Peace figures. Sinding created plaster models for these pieces from Rohl-Smith's sketches. But upon review, the postures and sizes of the two figures were found not to harmonize with the rest of the monument. Sigvald Asbjornsen remodelled them. As Rohl-Smith had already completed three of the four soldier figures on the corners of the monument, Sigvald Asbjornsen completed the fourth. Sources differ as to whether Asbjornsen completed the artilleryman or the cavalryman. Kitson completed the medallions which depicted the corps commanders who served under Sherman. Jensen completed the four bas relief panels based on work already done by Rohl-Smith, and completed the badge of the Army of the Tennessee as well.
Gorham Brothers of Providence, Connecticut, cast the statues and medallions.
The stone pedestal was designed by Rohl-Smith. Erected by April 1902, it was built by the Harrison Granite Company. The granite came from the Fletcher Granite Company of Westford, Massachusetts. The mosaic around the pedestal was designed by Rohl-Smith and constructed by the National Mosaic Company. The monument was expected to cost $90,000, but the final amount was $123,969.91.
The monument was dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt on October 15, 1903. The monument is located in Sherman Park. This area is where Sherman, along with President Andrew Johnson and General Ulysses Grant, reviewed the Army of the Potomac on May 23, 1865. Sherman led the parade of the Army of the Tennessee past this same site the next day.
On February 18, 1904, Congress legislatively gave the name "Sherman Plaza" to the area where the monument stands.
In 2011, the statue underwent a $2 million restoration.
The statue is a contributing monument to the National Register of Historic Places' Civil War Monuments in Washington, D.C., which was established by Executive Order 11593 on May 13, 1971. The memorial is also a contributing element to President's Park South, an area which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

About the monument

The monument is located in Sherman Plaza, which is at the intersection of 15th Street NW, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and Treasury Place NW. The equestrian statue of General Sherman is tall, and stands atop a granite pedestal high. The War and Peace statue groups are each high. The four corner statues representing branches of the army are each tall. The March Through Georgia and Battle of Atlanta bas reliefs are each by, while the Sherman By the Campfire and Missionary Ridge bas reliefs are by in size. The sculpted badge of the Army of the Tennessee is by, while the medallion in each pair of medallions is square.
From the front step to the back step, the statue is long, while the "terrace" above the steps is long.
The subfoundation of the Sherman Monument was completed in December 1898. About were excavated from the site, while another of material were required to backfill and level it. Two hundred and four wooden pilings were driven into the ground to help support the monument, and of sand and fill and of concrete were used to complete the subfoundation. The pilings had to be sunk lower than anticipated due to the existence of groundwater at the site. Congress appropriated an extra $10,000 to cover the cost.
Rohl-Smith designed the equestrian statue of Sherman so that it depicted him on the day he rode up Pennsylvania Avenue at the head of the Army of the Tennessee on May 24, 1865.
Four bas-relief panels adorn the sides of the monument:
There are two major figure groups, one on the east and one on the west side of the monument. The western group depicts War as an older woman who is tearing asunder her clothing and the straps that bind her. She is trampling on the body of a dead soldier, while a vulture perches behind her feet and another spreads its wings menacingly over the dead man. The mouth of a cannon can be see poking from below the dead man's legs. The eastern group depicts Peace as a young woman naked from the waist up, the flowering branch of a fruit tree in her left hand. To her left, a nude young girl tends a wounded young boy dressed in tattered pants. To the woman's right, a nude boy lies in the grass feeding a bird.
There are four figures at each corner of the monument. They represent the artillery, infantry, cavalry, and engineers.
Pairs of medallions depicting the army and corps commanders of the Army of the Tennessee are on each side of the monument. These pairs are: General James B. McPherson and General Oliver O. Howard, General John A. Logan and Major General Frank P. Blair, Jr., Brigadier General Grenville M. Dodge and Brigadier General Thomas E. G. Ransom, and Major General Benjamin Grierson and Brigadier General Andrew Jackson Smith.
Rohl-Smith designed the monument to have two low steps, and for a mosaic wide to surround the monument. But Rohl-Smith did not complete the design for the mosaic before his death. His wife, Sara Rohl-Smith, designed the actual mosaic pattern. Congress appropriated another $8,000 to complete it. The mosaic contains the names of the battles Sherman fought in:
The inscription around the monument reads: