Saratoga Battle Monument: Colonel Daniel Morgan, (sculpture).

Saratoga Battle Monument: Colonel Daniel Morgan, (sculpture).

O'Donovan, William Rudolf, 1844-1920, sculptor.

Markham, Jared C., architect.

Art Metal Works, founder. (possibly by)

Booth Bros., contractor.

Saratoga Battle Monument: Colonel Daniel Morgan, (sculpture).

Burgoyne's Surrender Monument, (sculpture).

Commander of Riflemen, (sculpture).

Colonel Daniel Morgan, (sculpture).

Commissioned April 1885. 1886. Dedicated Oct. 17, 1912.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze.

Sculpture: approx. H. 7 ft.

(On plinth, right:) William Rudolf (sic) O'Donovan/Fecit 1886 signed

Full-length figure of Colonel Daniel Morgan stands in the west niche of the Saratoga Battle Monument. The figure wears buckskin tunic and leggings. He holds his rifle by the barrel in his proper right hand. His proper left hand shades his eyes as he looks into the distance.

History -- United States -- Revolution

Portrait male -- Morgan, Daniel -- Full length

Occupation -- Military -- Colonel

Outdoor Sculpture -- New York -- Victory Mills

Administered by United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, District of Columbia

Administered by Saratoga National Historical Park, Stillwater, New York 12170

Located Saratoga National Historical Park, Near southwest corner of Burgoyne Street & Cemetery Avenue, Victory Mills, New York

Formerly administered by State of New York, 1895-1980.

Formerly administered by Saratoga Monument Association, New York 1873-1895.

This sculpture is one of three bronze portrait sculptures of military leaders located on the facade of the Saratoga Battle Monument. See also portraits of General Horatio Gates by George E. Bissell (IAS record NY001798) and General Philip Schuyler by Alexander Doyle (IAS record NY001799). A fourth niche, which is blank, symbolizes the place reserved for General Benedict Arnold, who distinguished himself during the battles of Saratoga at the Breymann Redoubt.

Commissioned in 1873, the Saratoga Battle Monument commemorates the surrender of the British under Lieutenant General John Burgoyne to General Horatio Gates on Oct. 17, 1777. Construction of the obelisk monument began in Oct. 1877 and the portrait of Morgan, commissioned in 1885, was in place by 1886. Jared C. Markham was designer and architect for the monument which was constructed by Booth Brothers Company. William O'Donovan sculpted the portrait of Morgan, which was possibly cast by Art Metal Works. The total cost of the monument, $112,000, was funded through federal, state and private sources. The monument was dedicated Oct. 17, 1912.

Ownership of the monument was transferred from the Association to the State of New York. In May 1980, the National Park Service assumed responsibility for the monument. IAS files contain brochures from the Park Service which detail the histories of the battle and the monument, including maintenance and repair issues. IAS files also contain a National Park Service Classified Structure Field Inventory Report, dated Aug. 27, 1981 and an excerpt from the Saratoga Monument Historic Structure Report, Feb. 1, 1992.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, New York survey, 1992.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, NY0209, 1989.

Monumental News, Nov. 1894, pg. 577.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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