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The Ulysses S. Grant Association | |
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The Ulysses S. Grant Association | |
"On this plain man two gifts the gods bestowed,
He weighed the pack before he took the load.
And where he marched it was a one-way road."
Justice Wendell Phillips Stafford
Grant Memorial dedication,
April 27, 1922
By Michael J. Faber, CRM
SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Of the many magnificent monuments in the Washington area, one of the most impressive is that memorializing General Ulysses S. Grant. His statue, which faces west from the Capitol, gazes serenely toward the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.
After the Civil War, Grant became one of the most popular figures of his day, in this country and internationally, and was elected to two Presidential terms from 1869 to 1877. Corruption clouded his presidency, and he subsequently has been judged poorly for his White House performance, but his military tenacity and ersonal integrity seldom have been brought to question.
Poor business decisions and bad investment advice from friends brought Grant perilously close to bankruptcy by the mid-1880s. In the final year of his life, fighting excruciating pain, Grant struggled to write his biography in the hope of saving his family from financial disaster. In what must have been his most difficult and valiant battle, he lost the fight to throat cancer in July 1885, dying just days after completing the second volume of his now famous and extraordinarily successful "Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant."
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| Gen. Ulysses S. Grant sits astride his favorite horse, Cincinnati, at the Grant Memorial, which is west of the Capitol. The relief panels on the sides of the pedestal depict "The Infantry Group." |
In 1902, Henry Merwin Shrady, a relatively unknown artist with little experience, won the competition. Shrady's selection was controversial (he was only 31 at the time), but members of the selection committee included the renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens and two of Grant's former officers, Gens John McAllister Schofield and Wesley Merritt.
Winning the competition, however was an ominous achievement for Shrady. He would spend his remaining 20 years of his life working on the Grant Memorial. The sculpting and molding work was done by Shrady at his studio in New York state, and the bronze casting was done in Brooklyn, N.Y. at the Roman Bronze Works.
Shrady ignored his doubters and became completely immersed in the enormous project. He began an intensive study of the Civil War and was given access to military installations, including West Point as well as other Army posts and facilities. His dedication to the task before him was so intense, Shrady actually joined the New York National Guard for four years to better understand the life of a soldier. Cavalry and artillery units often drilled and performed military maneuvers for the edification of the young sculptor and artist, who fast was becoming an expert military historian.
Another controversy--about location of the monument introduced itself at this time. The original site was just South of, or behind, what is now the Executive Office Building, next to the White House. President Theodore Roosevelt and others objected to that location because it would have obstructed the view of the Potomac River from the White House. Other Washingtonians, including the superintendent of the Botanical Garden, sought an injunction to prevent the removal of three trees from what did become the memorial site.
Finally, in 1909, the superstructure for the memorial was laid. The Vermont marble platform is 252 feet in length and 71 feet wide, with steps on each side. The center marble pedestal is 22 feet high, is surrounded by four bronze lions.
In 1912, the first of Shrady's three major bronze works was placed at the site. "The Artillery Group," depicts a caisson drawn by five magnificent horses, one of which is being ridden by a guidon carrier who has turned to signal a right wheel in the face of an upcoming battle.
The expressions of the three soldiers seated in the caisson are timeless. An impending battle surely brings different thoughts to different men, and Shrady's art is masterful at capturing the personal war that must be fought by each man alone. Shrady used West Point cadets from the class of 1908 as models for this work, and a small bronze plaque on the back of "The Artillery Group" recognizes them. (One of the young models, James E. Chaney, would retire from the Army as a Major General.
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| A guidon carrier signals a right wheel in the face of an upcoming battle in Henry Merwin Shrady's "The Artillery Group," one of the large sculptures of the Grant Memorial |
You can almost hear the thundering of the hooves as this mounted unit charges into battle, led by its commanding officer with sword held high. Shrady used horses from the New York Police Department to study the anatomy of the animals, he is said to have dissected one and reassembled its skeleton to understand the anatomy more thoroughly. Pain, anguish and determination are displayed on the face of a cavalryman whose horse has fallen on him. So precise and exacting was Shrady's vision of that face, that he became frustrated with those who sat for him, and he instead used a system of mirrors and sculpted the visage from his own expressions.
The relief panels on sides of the pedestal on which Grant's statue rests depict "The Infantry Group." Although based on sketches and drawings by Shrady, these panels were sculpted by Edmund Amateis and Sherry Fry after Shrady's death. Tragically, Shrady died just weeks before the dedication of the Grant Memorial, after devoting 20 continuous years to the project.
On one of the panels in "The Infantry Group" shows an officer, with raised sword, turning to encourage his men forward. The other panel portrays a drummer boy, followed by the long line of infantrymen on what must have seemed a never ending march to the next battle.
It is fitting that these panels are at the foundation of Grant's equestrian statue. Without the blood of his infantry, Grant's many victories could not have been achieved.
The only inscription on the entire memorial is the name "Grant", and appropriately so, for a man who was as unimpressed with himself as this noble general was. He is seated calmly on his favorite horse, "Cincinnati", whose raised ears and flared nostrils seem to sense the coming battle. Grant, who was known for his coolness, unemotionally surveys the battlefield. Modest in dress and demeanor, he is confident, prepared to direct his forces toward victory.
Shrady studied and knew this man. His father, Dr. George Frederick Shrady, was one of the attending physicians when Grant died of cancer. Grant's son, Frederick Dent Grant, communicated with Shrady regularly. The sculptor studied the life mask of Grant from the Smithsonian to capture more accurately the dimensions and likeness of the man.
Justice Stafford ended his poetic dedication to the Grant Memorial in 1922 with these words:
"When guns grow mute the strife of tongues may cease,
And the same hand that bound should bring release.
Hark! 'tis a soldier says, Let us have peace".
Today, the Capitol is one of the most visited places in the world, but one of the most overlooked beauties of the area is the monument to Ulysses S. Grant with its accompanying sculptures. According to records at the National Park Service, the Grant Memorial was once lighted at night, and perhaps it would be worthwhile to consider lighting the memorial again. The illumination of such a magnificent monument could only enhance the beauty of Washington.Michael J. Faber is vice president of Paxton Record Retention in Springfield and lives in Vienna, Virginia.
This article was published by the Washington Times on May 16, 1998 Page B3