Civil War Monument-Biddeford, (sculpture).

Civil War Monument-Biddeford, (sculpture).

Monumental Bronze Company, founder.

Gooch, Woodbury G., contractor.

Civil War Monument-Biddeford, (sculpture).

1887. Installed Oct. 1887.

Digital Reference:

Figure: white bronze; Base: white bronze.

Overall: approx. H. 25 ft.; Base: approx. W. 7 ft. 10 in. x D. W. 7 ft. 10 in. (10 tons).

(On lower plinth, front, in raised letters:) ERECTED BY BIDDEFORD/SOLDIERS AND SAILORS/MONUMENT ASSOCIATION (On base, front:) OUR/DEAD HEROES/"ON FAME'S ETERNAL/CAMPING GROUND/THEIR SILENT TENTS/ARE SPREAD,/AND GLORY GUARDS WITH/SOLEMN ROUND/THE BIVOUAC OF OUR/DEAD" (On lower plinth, right:) SUMTER/1861 (On base, right, below Maine Coat of Arms:) ADMITTED/INTO THE UNION/1820 (On lower plinth, rear:) GETTYSBURG/1863 (On base, rear:) IN HONOR OF/THOSE WHO/ANSWERED OUR/COUNTRY'S/CALL/IN HER/HOURS OF NEED/FOR ALL THEY/WERE/AND ALL THEY/DARED,/REMEMBER THEM (On lower plinth, left:) APPOMATTOX/1965 (On base, left, below Biddeford City Seal:) RICHARD VINES/WINTERED AT WINTER HARBOR,/1616-1617/BIDDEFORD/INCORPORATED AS/A TOWN 1718,/AND AS A CITY 1855

Full-length figure of a uniformed Union soldier stands atop an ornate pedestal. The figure wears a long coat with cape and crooks a flagpole with flag in his proper left elbow.

History -- United States -- Civil War

Figure male -- Full length

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

Outdoor Sculpture -- Maine -- Biddeford

Administered by City of Biddeford, Department of Parks & Recreation, 284 Hill, Box 586, Biddeford, Maine 04005

Located City Hall, Adams Street, Biddeford, Maine 04005

Commissioned by the Biddeford Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Association in July 1887 for $2,500. A fund for the monument was started in 1866, when a first Soldiers' Monument Association was formed. The fund was held in trust by Thomas Quinby, the first Association's chairman. By the time of Quinby's death in 1885, the fund totaled $1,219.25 and was turned over by his estate to the newly formed Association. Models were displayed at City Hall, and the citizens of Biddeford selected one. The eight-piece cast arrived in Biddeford in Oct. 1887 and was completed by Nov. 1887. Contractor Woodbury G. Gooch built the granite foundation. Attached sources differ as to the weight of the monument, as the Biddeford Union and Journal gives it as 10,000 pounds and a letter from the Biddeford Historical Society from Aug. 1995 lists the weight as 10 tons. IAS files include related articles from the Biddeford Union and Journal, April 6, 1866, April 27, 1866 and May 4, 1866, the Biddeford Journal, Oct. 5, 1887 and pertinent correspondence from the Biddeford Historical Society, Aug. 1995.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Maine survey, 1995.

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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