Types of Monuments

Many of the monuments erected by various cities have a similarity to them, but they are widespread and do not detract from one another. However, the Civil War monuments concentrated on the battlefields required that the granite industry offer a wide variety of types of monuments to provide contrast and interest.

Boulder

26th Pennsylvania, GettysburgA Boulder is a rough-hewn monument with a natural shape. (page 206)

Book

11th New Jersey, Gettysburg. The Book is a very unusual type of monument. In this case, it repre-sents a record of the units service during the battle of Gettysburg. (page 170)

Base and Die

5th Connecticut, Gettysburg, two piece monument(page 154) 52nd Ohio, Chickamauga, built-up die (page 115)

Monuments are often a combination of base(s), die, plinth and/or cap. they vary in complexity from a two piece base and die to ornate, complex, multi-piece creations

Column

General Mansfield, Antietam.A column is an upright cylindrical shaft which symbolizes fortitude and constancy. (page 66)

Gate

11th Pennsylvania Reserves, Gettysburg. The gate is symbolic of an entrance into a new world; a gate also suggests a guarding of that en-tryway. (page 201)

Irregular slab

21st Michigan, Chickamauga. The irreguar slab is used as it came from the quarry beds.(page 103)

Cross

Monument To Soldiers In Unknown Graves, Danbury, CT. A religious symbol is rarely a part of a Civil War Memorial. A notable exception is this monument in Wooster Cem-etery, Danbury, CT. (page 249)

Pedestal

Rhode Island 7th Infantry, Vicksburg.A pedestal serves as a support or base for a column or statue. The statue may be may from bronze, marble or granite. (page 241)

Pyramid

4th US Artillery Battery H, Chickamauga. A pyramid, a monu-ment with a polygonal base and triangular faces that meet at a common point, symbolizes, in this case, a stack of cannon balls.(page 90)

Obelisk-monolithic Obelisk--Built-up

14th Connecticut Infantry, Antietam (page 67)

6th Pennsylvania Reserve, Gettysburg. (page 199)

An obelisk is a tall, four-sided shaft of stone, usually tapered, that rises to a pointed pyramidal top. In a monolithic obelisk, the shaft is made on one piece of stone; a built up obelisk has many courses (layers) with one or more stones per course. The 6th Pennsylvania Reserve obelisk uses alternating layers of red and blue Westerly granite.

The relief monument, in which the figure projects from the background, is among the most dramatic and also among the most difficult to cut. It is meant to be viewed primarily from one direction as opposed to a statue which can be viewed from every direction. Relief presented the greatest challenge to the talented statue cutters because of the restrictions placed on them. The statue cutter can work on a statue from any angle. Because of the presence of the background material, however, he must always cut the relief sculpture from the front of the monument, often forcing him into awkward and difficult positions. In bas relief (pronounced bah relief) work the figure extends less than half way out of the background. In haut relief (pro-nounced oh relief) the figure extends more than halfway out of the background.

Relief

Statue--ClassicalSarcophagus

123rd New York, Gettysburg. The classical statue of Cleo, the muse of history, is featured as she records the events of the battle. (page 187)

107th Ohio, Gettysburg. The shape of this monument is reminiscent of the monuments used in ancient Greece and Egypt to contain the body, It is a common design in funereal monuments, but rather unusual in Civil War memorials. (page 193)

16th U. S. Infantry, Chickamauga. (page 94)

Statue of a specific individual

11th Michigan, Chickamauga. The unit’s monument features Colonel William L. Stoughton, its commanding officer. the unit fought on Snodgrass Hill where the monument is located. It is unusual for a unit monument to feature one individual.(page 101)

Statue/Relief

13th Michigan Infantry. The monument features an unusual blend of relief and statue. Shoulder-height and below the figure is in re-lief; above shoulder height it is a three dimen-sional statue. (page 102)

Statue--Soldier

The Private Soldier, Antietam.(page 84)

The Flag Bearer, 13th Massachusetts, Gettysburg.(page 162)

These two statues of union soldiers were used many times in both battlefield and civic memorials. “The Private soldier,” left, was sculpted by Carl Conrads and was atop many monument made by the New England Granite Works. “The Flag Bearer,” right, was sculpted by Edward Pausch and was often used in Smith Granite Company monuments. These statues are often used to identify monuments by the two companies.

Winged MonumentTree Stump

90th Pennsylvania, Gettysburg. This granite tree stump is a one of a kind monument that draws inspiration from nature. (page 208)

The Lincoln Address Memorial in Gettysburg features wings on either side of the central die. (page 225)