Saratoga Battle Monument: General Horatio Gates, (sculpture).

Saratoga Battle Monument: General Horatio Gates, (sculpture).

Bissell, George Edwin, 1839-1920, sculptor.

Markham, Jared C., architect.

Art Metal Works, founder. (possibly by)

Booth Bros., contractor.

Saratoga Battle Monument: General Horatio Gates, (sculpture).

Burgoyne's Surrender Monument, (sculpture).

General Horatio Gates, (sculpture).

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

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze.

Sculpture: approx. H. 7 ft.

(On plinth, right:) George E. Bissell/Sculptor/N.Y. signed

Full-length portrait of General Horatio Gates stands in the north niche of the Saratoga Battle Monument. The figure wears a Revolutionary War uniform with a long coat and tricornered hat. He holds a telescope in both hands and appears to be looking into the distance.

History -- United States -- Revolution

Portrait male -- Gates, Horatio -- Full length

Occupation -- Military -- General

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

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 Philip Schuyler by Alexander Doyle (IAS record NY001797) and Colonel Daniel Morgan by William R. O'Donovan (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 Gates, 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. George E. Bissell sculpted the portrait of Gates, which was possibly cast by Art Metal Works. The total cost of the monument, $112,000, was funded through federal, state and private sources. Themonument was dedicated Oct. 17, 1912.

In 1895, 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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