Civil War Monument, (sculpture).

Civil War Monument, (sculpture).

Bodwell Granite Company, fabricator.

Civil War Monument, (sculpture).

Commissioned Oct. 1881. 1881-1882. Dedicated May 30, 1882.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: granite; Base: granite.

Sculpture: approx. H. 8 ft. x W. 2 ft.; Base: approx. 22 x 8 x 8 ft. (100 tons).

(Incised on base, front:) ERECTED/BY THE CITIZENS OF AUBURN/IN MEMORY OF HER NOBLE SONS/WHO ON LAND AND SEA/GAVE THEIR LIVES/TO PRESERVE THE UNION/AND SECURE FREEDOM/TO ALL ITS PEOPLE (The names of Auburn citizens killed in the Civil War are incised on two sides of the base)

Full-length figure of a uniformed Union soldier stands at parade rest atop a tall shaft and a tiered base. The figure wears a long caped coat, cap and moustache. He leans on his Enfield rifle held in front of him with the butt end on the ground. The decorative element at the base of the shaft is a relief of flags, military items and a shield. Below this element on each side of the base is a row of polished balls.

History -- United States -- Civil War

Figure male -- Full length

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

Outdoor Sculpture -- Maine -- Auburn

Administered by City of Auburn, City Clerk, 45 Spring Street, Auburn, Maine 04210

Located Androscoggin County Courthouse, 2 Turner Street, Auburn, Maine 04210

Commissioned by the City of Auburn under the auspices of the Burnside Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. The site is owned by Androscoggin County, except for one corner granted to the City of Auburn to "erect and maintain a monument." An attached article from the Lewiston Evening Journal, May 30, 1882, contains a list of the names on the monument. IAS files also contain a related article from the Landmarks Observer, May-June, 1981 and excerpts from the minutes of Auburn City Council Meetings 1881-1882 and Androscoggin County Commissioners Meetings, 1881. The sculpture is often thought to be copy after Martin Milmore based on an article titled "Soldier Boy Statues" published in Landmarks Observer (May-June 1981), which vaguely notes that Maine's soldier statues are copies of Milmore's soldier figure done in 1867.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Maine survey, 1994.

Baruch, Mildred C. and Ellen J. Beckman, "Civil War Union Monuments: a List of Union Monuments, Markers and Memorials of the American Civil War, 1861-1865," Washington, D.C.: Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1861-1865, 1978, pg. 7.

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

Control Number:

Horizon Information Portal 3.0

Powered by SirsiDynix

About | © 2020 Smithsonian | Terms of Use | Privacy | Contact

SIRIS - Smithsonian Institution Research Information System