(Baxter Springs Civil War Monument), (sculpture).

(Baxter Springs Civil War Monument), (sculpture).

Unknown, sculptor.

(Baxter Springs Civil War Monument), (sculpture).

Dedicated May 31, 1886.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: gray granite; Base: gray granite.

Overall: approx. H. 27 ft.; Sculpture: approx. H. 7 ft.; Base: approx. H. 20 ft.

(On south face, underneath drape, raised lettering:) 1863 (On "open book" sections of base:) (South face:) MAJ. HENRY Z. CURTIS/ASST.ADJ.GENL U.S. VOLS/CHAPLAIN OZEM B. GARDNER/13th KANSAS INFANTRY./14th KANSAS CAVALRY/(list of 25 names)/79th U.S.C.T/CORPL BEDFORD GREEN (East face:) 3rd WISCONSIN CAVALRY/LIEUT. LORENZO A. DIXON/LIEUT. ASA W. FARR/(36 names listed in two columns) (On north face:) BRIGADEBAND/(14 names listed in two columns)/CIVILIANS/(14 names listed in two columns) (On west face:) 2nd KANSAS BATTERY/CORPL VAN R HANCOCK/(list of four names)/9th KANSAS CAVALRY/LIEUT. A.T. SPENCER/(list of three names)/2nd OHIO CAVALRY/(list of two names)/83rd U.S.C.T./LIEUT.R.E. COOK CHAS ALLEN/9th WISCONSIN INFANTRY/LUDWIG SALZWEDEL/12th KANSAS INFANTRY/JNO. T. MOORE/15th KANSAS CALVARY/CORPL. W.J. WALLACE (On lower base, south face:) ERECTED BY THE UNITED STATES TO THE/MEMORY OF THE OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS KILLED IN/THE BATTLE OF BAXTER SPRINGS, OCTOBER 6, 1863,/AND OTHER ENGAGEMENTS IN THIS VICINITY, WHO ARE/BURIED NEAR THIS MONUMENT, AND WHOSE NAMES,/SO FAR AS KNOWN, ARE INSCRIBED HEREON. unsigned

A Civil War soldier, wearing a moustache and goatee, stands at parade rest holding the barrel of his rifle with his proper right hand and the muzzle with his proper left hand. The rifle is grounded to the front. The soldier wears a kepi and a greatcoat buttoned at the neck. The cape of the coat is thrown back over his proper right shoulder exposing his arm. He wears a belt from which hangs a bayonet in scabbard on the proper left side. A cartridge pouch hangs from the rear proper right. The sculpture is mounted atop a multitiered base. The uppermost portion features a bas-relief decoration consisting of cannonballs projecting from each of the four faces. A drape underneath each cannonball is held in place by a rosette on each side. The base is set upon a larger slab with upright projections at each corner and at the centers of each face. The projections are connected by a round brass railing. Each one is surmounted by a sphere representing a cannonball. The sculpture is centered in a square-shaped open area of grass marked at four corners by Civil War cannons held upright by granite surrounds. Soldiers listed on the sculpture are buried in individual, unmarked graves within the grassy plot.

History -- United States -- Civil War

Figure male -- Full length

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

Outdoor Sculpture -- Kansas -- Baxter Springs

Coadministered by United States Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration, 810 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Washington, District of Columbia 20420

Coadministered by Fort Scott National Cemetery, P. O. Box 917, Fort Scott, Kansas 66701

Coadministered by City of Baxter Springs, Baxter Springs, Kansas

Located Baxter Springs Cemetery National Cemetery, Soldiers Lot, Baxter Springs, Kansas

The sculpture commemorates the officers and soldiers killed in the Battle of Baxter Springs on October 6, 1863, and in other engagements in the area. Soldiers listed on the sculpture are buried in unmarked graves around it. For related reading see Baxter Springs News, May 22, 1886, pg. 4 and June 5, 1886, pg. 1, 4. IAS files contain copies of undated Baxter Springs News articles.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Kansas survey, 1995.

National Cemetery Administration Memorials Inventory Project, 2002-2005.

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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