Monument to the Confederate Dead, (sculpture).

Monument to the Confederate Dead, (sculpture).

Nicoli, Carlo, sculptor.

Trescot, William Henry, assistant.

Muldoon, Watson & Company, architectural firm.

Monument to the Confederate Dead, (sculpture).

Confederate Monument, (sculpture).

Civil War Monument, (sculpture).

ca. 1875. Dedicated May 13, 1879.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: Italian marble; Base: granite from Congaree, South Carolina.

Sculpture: approx. 39 ft. 4 in. x 3 ft. x 3 ft.; Base: approx. 8 in. x 12 ft. x 8 ft.

(On front of die block:) THIS MONUMENT/PERPETUATES THE MEMORY/OF THOSE WHO/TRUE TO THE INSTINCTS OF THEIR BIRTH/.../UNVEILED May 13, 1879 (On side of die block:) TO SOUTH CAROLINA'S DEAD/OF THE/CONFEDERATE ARMY/1861/1865 (On other side of die block:) ERECTED BY THE WOMEN/OF/SOUTH CAROLINA (On back of die block:) LET THE STRANGER/WHO MAY IN FUTURE TIMES/READ THIS INSCRIPTION/RECOGNIZE THAT THESE WERE MEN/WHOM POWER COULD NOT CORRUPT/WHOM DEATH COULD NOT TERRIFY/...

The monument is composed of a very large base on which rests a two-level pedestal. A die block is mounted on top of the pedestal for inscriptions and carvings. A shaft rests on the die block on top of which stands a Confederate Infantry soldier at guard. He holds the stock of a rifle with bayonet in his proper left hand and rests his proper right hand on the muzzle. He wears a cloak around his shoulders and has a canteen at his proper left hip. The west face of the shaft has a carving of a palmetto tree. The north and south sides have carvings of military emblems.

History -- United States -- Civil War

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

Figure male -- Full length

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

Emblem -- Military Insignia

Landscape -- Tree -- Palmetto Tree

Allegory -- Place -- South Carolina

Outdoor Sculpture -- South Carolina -- Columbia

Administered by State of South Carolina, Building Services, 921 Main Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29201

Located South Carolina State House, Columbia, South Carolina

Monument to the Confederate Dead was sponsored by the South Carolina Monument Association. Base was originally installed at Elmwood Cemetery but was moved prior to attaching the figure. The Elmwood Cemetery site had been offered by the directors of the cemetery after a spot overlooking Sydney Park had proved to be structurally unfit. When a sympathetic state government came into power after the reconstructionists left, the monument association successfully petitioned the legislature for a spot on the State House grounds. The granite for the foundation and base was furnished by Judge John S. Green from his quarry in Congaree. William Henry Trescot prepared the inscription. IAS files contain copies from a book edited by the South Carolina Monument Association, "The South Carolina Monument Association: Origin, History, and Work, with an Account of the Proceedings of the Unveiling of the Monument to the Confederate Dead," Charleston, SC: The News and Courier Book Presses, 1879. IAS files also contain copy of newspaper article from The Columbia Record, Oct. 17, 1985, which discusses cleaning of the monument. For additional information see: The State (Columbia, SC), March 21, 1936; The Columbia Record, Nov. 7, 1946; and The State (Columbia, SC), Nov. 8, 1959.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, South Carolina survey, 1993.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.

"Monuments on the State House Grounds, Columbia, South Carolina," compiled by Inez Watson, Clerk, South Carolina House of Representatives, 1958, fig. 1.

The Columbia Record, Oct. 17, 1985.

"Monuments on the State House Grounds, Columbia, South Carolina," compiled by Inez Watson, Clerk, South Carolina House of Representatives, 1958, fig. 1.

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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