Richard Dowling, (sculpture).

Richard Dowling, (sculpture).

Coe, Herring, 1907-1999, sculptor.

Watkins, William Ward, architect.

Roman Bronze Works, founder.

Richard Dowling, (sculpture).

Dick Dowling Monument, (sculpture).

1936. Dedicated May 22, 1937.

Sculpture: bronze; Base: Fredericksburg pink granite.

Sculpture: approx. 7 ft. x 3 ft. x 18 in.; Base: approx. 7 ft. x 11 ft. 6 in. x 2 ft. 6 in.

Roman Bronze Works N.Y. (On front of bronze at bottom lip:) Herring Coe Sc (Below signature:) L.T. Richard W. Dowling (On back, lower portion of bronze:) Battle of Sabine Pass

(On front center of base:) In Memory of/Lt. Richard W. Dowling/and his men/Texas remember the/faithfulness and valor/of her sons/and commend their/heroic example/to future generations/Erected by/the state of Texas/1936 (On left side of base:) The men who fought with Lt. Dowling were (On right side of base: list of names follows)/Seal of Texas/"At this site/on Sept. 8th 1863/Dick Dowling/and forty-seven men/comprising company F/Texas heavy artillery/Jefferson Davis Guards/O.S.A. from a mud fort/repulsed an attack made by four warships and/twelve hundred men/of the Federal army/thus saving Texas from invasion by the enemy (On back of base: Jefferson Davis quote) signed Founder's mark appears.

A portrait of Dick Dowling seen standing, dressed in slacks but not shirt, holding a torch at his side in his proper right hand and a pair of binoculars in his proper left hand. The bronze sculpture is mounted atop a pink granite base with three panels, the center die, front and back, decorated with a bronze wreath and star. The two flanking sides have commemorative carved text.

Portrait male -- Dowling, Dick -- Full length

History -- United States -- Civil War

Occupation -- Military -- First Lieutenant

Outdoor Sculpture -- Texas -- Sabine Pass

Administered by State of Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas 78744

Located Sabine Pass Battleground State Park and Historic Site, Dowling Point, Sabine Pass, Texas

A memorial to Dick Dowling, who served as first lieutenant during the Civil War, and won the Battle of Sabine Pass in 1863. After the war, Dowling reportedly organized the first oil company in Texas (May 17, 1866). He died in Houston in 1867. In 1936, the Texas Centennial Commission erected the monument to Dowling and his men at Sabine Pass. The monument cost $7,5000. The memorial is the work of Herring Coe, sculptor, and William W. Watkins, architect.

IAS files contain excerpt from Ralph Widener Jr., "Confederate Monuments: Enduring Symbols of the South and the War Between the States," pg. 228; and excerpt from "Handbook of Texas, Volume I, ca. 1952, pg. 517.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Texas survey, 1993.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.

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 3.25_9382

Powered by SirsiDynix

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

SIRIS - Smithsonian Institution Research Information System