Peace Monuments Related to the American Civil War

Right click image to enlarge.

1836 - La Paix / Peace (also known as La Paix de 1815 / The Peace of 1815), Northwest Pillar (facing Avenue de la Grand-Armeé), Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, Place Charles de Gaulle (also known as the Place de l'Étoile), Paris (France).

1858 - Statue of Peace, East front portico (to the right of the Columbus doors), US Capitol, Washington, DC (USA). Marble sculpture by George Gianetti, (after Luigi Persico). Draped in simple flowing robes, Peace holds an olive branch in her left hand.

T R E E

c1862-Early 1930's - Peace Tree, US Botanic Garden, Washington, DC (USA). Overcup oak marking the spot where Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden [1787-1863] made an address in an effort to avert the Civil War. Transplanted about 1920 to make way for the Grant Memorial [image]. "Probably succumbed in the early 1930's when the Botanic Garden was finally leveled..." Crittenden had sons fighting on opposite sides of the Civil War & tried to forge a compromise on the eve of war, but it was narrowly rejected. Info from Savage (2009), pp. 94, 181-6.

1864 & 1872 - Salle de l'Alabama / Hall of the Alabama, Hotel de Ville / City Hall, Geneva (Switzerland). On August 22, 1864, the [First] Geneva Convention was signed here, founding the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and beginning Geneva's role as an internaitonal city." On September 14, 1872, an international tribunal meeting here settled the so-called "Alabama Claims" of the USA against the UK about actions of the CSS Alabama & other raiders during the US Civil War, thus establishing the principle of international arbritration.

April 14, 1865 - Ford's Theater, Washington, DC (USA). Became iconic the moment President Lincoln was assassinated in the theater on April 14, 1865.

1874 - Lincoln's Tomb, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois (USA).

1876 - Emancipation Memorial, Lincoln Park, East Capitol Avenue & 12th Street, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC (USA). Sculpted by Thomas Ball. "Depicts Abraham Lincoln holding his Emancipation Proclamation and standing over Archer Alexander [1828-1880?] breaking the chains of slavery. Alexander was the last slave captured under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850." Right image shows this monument on the cover of "Standing soldiers, kneeling slaves: Race, war, and monument in nineteenth-century America," by Kirk Savage (1999).

1878 - "Charrue de la Paix" / "Plow of Peace," Salle de l'Alabama / Hall of the Alabama, Hotel de Ville / City Hall, Geneva (Switzerland). Offerte à la Ville et au peuple de Genève après avoir figuré comme symbole de paix à l'exposition de Paris en 1878. Elle fut confectionnée avec les sabres que des officiers américains avaient cédés lors d'un congrès pour la paix tenu en 1872 à Philadelphie par l' "Universal Peace Union". La cloche est une réplique miniature de la "Liberty Bell" de Philadelphie. Elle sonna l'ouverture de la première assemblée de la Société des Nations le 15 novembre 1920."

1878 - Naval Peace Monument, The Mall, Washington, DC (USA). Commemorates role of US Navy during the Civil War. Facing the US Capitol is Peace, a classical figure draped from the waist down and holding an olive sprig. The monuments's other alegorical figures are Grief, History & Victory.

July 17, 1878 - Civil War Fountain, US highways 11 & 30, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania (USA). "15,000 people braved 94-degree heat for the ceremony and a 2-hour parade. Women of the community raised money for the fountain, more of a monument to peace than the martial monument that the men wanted. A compromise was struck with the inclusion of a statue of a soldier facing south against another invasion by Confederates."

1884 - "Peace: The Genius of History, Esplanade Avenue at Bayou Road, New Orleans, Louisiana (USA). Statue originally decorating the site of the 1884 World's Fair. Left image by EWL.

1887 - Angel of Peace, Soldiers & Sailors Monument, East Rock, New Haven, Connecticut (USA).

1890 - Peace Monument, Monument Hill, Leeds, Maine (USA). "Erected in memory of the 161 soldiers and sailors who served from this town. This is the largest per capita number serving in the war of any town in the State of Maine."

1891 - Vandalized in 2004? - Liberty Monument, near Canal Place, New Orleans, Louisiana (USA). Opposite the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. From Wikipedia: "In 1891, a year after the Democratic legislature passed a new constitution that essentially disfranchised most blacks, the city government, by then representing only its white constituents, erected the Liberty Monument to 'commemorate the uprising' [of 1873-74]. In 1932 inscriptions were added to the monument which attested to its role in the white supremacist movement. In the late 20th century, the monument was seen as a symbol of racism by many in the black and Italian communities. (White League veterans led a mob that lynched eleven Sicilian men in 1891.) After the monument had to be removed because of street work in 1989, many residents opposed its being restored and replaced. The city tried to negotiate removing the inscriptions. Some people argued for its being restored at the original location. The content of the inscriptions was seldom discussed; rather, the issues were dealt with on technical grounds. Historic preservation officials argued for its replacement; others argued this was history which did not deserve continued commemoration." /// "[In 2004?] Anti-Nazi messages are written on the 'Liberty Monument.' The monument honors the White League members who died in an 1874 armed attack against the integrated Reconstruction government of Louisiana. David Duke had planned a rally to occur at this monument on Sunday, May 30th but the event was cancelled, possibly due to the actions taken against the monument. The monument commemorates the deaths of militant racists' attempts to suppress the participation of blacks in post-Civil War Louisiana government. The monument has long been reviled as a celebration of the militant racists in the White League. The 'Battle of Liberty Place' [on Sept. 14, 1874] has been called the largest street fight in American history; 3500 White League members faced 3600 New Orleans police and black militia."

October 16, 1896 - Civil War Correspondents Memorial Arch, Gathland State Park, Crampton's Gap, Burkittsville, Maryland (USA). Built by George Alfred Townsend [1841-1914] who had been the youngest war correspondent of the Civil War.

1897 - Negro Building, Tennessee Centennial Exposition (now Centennial Park), Nashville, Tennessee (USA). No longer exists. "Largest-ever display of African-American life and achievement." From dedication speech: "Here...the world may see the other side of Negro life than 'Sam Johnson, the chicken thief.' Here it may see the healthful buds of Negro handicraft, Negro art, science, literature, invention... Here... the old master who followed Lee's tattered banners... down to Appomattox sacrifices his pro-slavery ideas, and builds a monument to Negro fidelity and industry; and here the Negro brings the product of his brain and hand in grateful testimony to the friendly feelings between us."

May 30, 1903 - "Goddess of Victory" (statue of William Tecumseh Sherman), Central Park, New York City, New York (USA). "At the statue, which is mounted on an 11-foot-high pedestal, David McCullough exclaims, 'Isn't it great! Look at that face! It's the face of a madman! Grim and pockmarked...the very image of the horrors of war!' Sherman, celebrated & reviled for his brutal 1864 march from Atlanta to the sea, is famous for saying 'War is hell.' McCullough likes to recite the lesser known part of Sherman's speech: 'I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine.' McCullough lingers on the word moonshine. 'And look, there's the (horse's upraised) foot that gave [sculptor] Augustus Saint-Gaudens [1848-1907] so much trouble.' But what McCullough likes best about the statue is the figure in front of Sherman, a barefooted, winged goddess of Victory. She clutches a palm branch in her left hand and reaches out with her right hand, as if leading the way for Sherman. 'She makes it great,' McCullough says, noting the contrast between war-weary Sherman & Victory's youth and beauty. 'But there is no joy, no gleam of triumph or glory in her expression. Her eyes are wide, her mouth open, as if she was under a spell.' McCullough adds, 'She was African American (a 24-year-old model from South Carolina named Hettie Anderson). No one knows that!'"

May 24, 1907 - Statue of Peace, Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi (USA). The 90-foot high monument, constructed of Mt. Airy granite, features the statue of "Peace" that was sculpted by William Couper. In her hands, "Peace" holds a sword and a shield to signify that the soldiers of both armies have placed the weapons of war in her eternal care. Built by State of Minnesota.

May 31, 1909 - Civil War Monument, Memorial Park, Danville, Pennsylvania, Montour County, Pennsylvania (USA). Obelisk 73 feet tall with figures of an infantryman, an artilleryman, a cavalryman, and the Goddess of Peace, plus 4 granite balls 3 feet in diameter. "In 1936, Danville was honored to be able to procure a small piece of metal from the USS Battleship Maine, which was destroyed in Havana Harbor in February 1898. This became another monument." Image from circa 1920. Compare 1913 monument in Decatur, Indiana (qv).

1910 - New York Peace Monument, Point Park, Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Tennessee (USA). Depicts soldiers from North and South shaking hands. Built by State of New York.

1911 - Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site, National Park Service (NPS), 2995 Lincoln Farm Road, Hodgenville, Kentucky (USA). A Beaux-Arts neo-classical memorial building designed by John Russell Pope. Cornerstone was laid by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1909, and the building was dedicated in 1911 by President William Howard Taft. A reconstructed log cabin is inside the shrine. Another resconstruced cabin is outdoors at the Knob Creek Unit of the historic site.

S T A T U E

October 1911 - Peace Monument to "The Old Guard," 14th Street Entrance, Piedmont Park, Atlanta, Georgia (USA). "Commemorates the historic 'Mission of Peace' to the North in 1879 by the Gate City Guard of Atlanta." Depicts a Civil War soldier lowering his rifle as the Angel of Peace holds an olive branch above his head.

October 30, 1913 - Peace Monument, SW corner, Courthouse Square, Decatur, Adams County, Indiana (USA). Designed by Charles T. Mulligan [1866-1916]. Statue of "Peace" 12 feet 3 inches tall modeled by Margaret McMasters Van Slyke, "said to be Chicago's most perfectly formed woman" (local winner of Bernarr Macfadden's 13-city "best and most perfectly formed woman" contest in 1903-1904?). Side panels bear names of 1,276 Adams County veterans: Five of the War of 1812, eight of the Mexican War, 1,152 of 1861-1865 [sic], and 111 of the Spanish-American War. "The world's first monument dedicated exclusively to peace" (according to Wikipedia). Left photo by EWL 29Jul09. Right photo from 1935.

October 30, 1913 - Tribute to Women, back side of Peace Monument (qv), SW corner, Courthouse Square, Decatur, Adams County, Indiana (USA). Has bas relief sculpture of a nurse bandaging a wounded soldier, above a fountain (waterfall) behind which was mounted a fragment of the USS Maine (sunk in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898). Inscription: "To the women of our nation, as a tribute to their courage, devotion and sacrifice." May be restored for the monument's centennial in 2013. Left photo by EWL 29Jul09. Right photo from 1935.

June 4, 1914 - Confederate Monument, Confederate Section, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia (USA). 32-foot monument designed by Moses Ezekiel [1844-1917]. "Topped by a woman representing the South...crowed by olive leves, her left hand extending a laurel wreath toward the South,... her right hand holding a pruning hook resting on a plow stock... Inscribed at her feet: "And they shall beat their swords into plow shares and their spears into pruning hooks." "Many historians believe it was the national call to arms during the Spanish-American War [1898-1902] that brought Northerners and Southerners together at last... In June of 1900, in this spirit of national reconcilation, the US Congress authorized that a section of Arlington Naitonal Cemetery be set aside for the burial of Confederate dead." -- From "Arlington National Cemetery: Shrine to America's Heroes" by James Edward Peters (1986).

1917 - Ohio Peace Monument, Cravens House, Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Tennessee (USA). Base of monument depicts a female figure surrounded with grain, machinery, and other fruits of peace. Built by State of Ohio.

1917 - Headquarters Building, American Red Cross (ARC), 430-17th Street, Washington, DC (USA). Dedicated "in memory of the heroic women of the Civil War." The building still contains Red Cross offices and a museum. The ARC was established in Washington, DC, on May 21, 1881 by Clara Barton [1821-1912] who became its first president. See Clara Barton National Historic Site (1975).

1923 - Peace Monument, Capitol Grounds, Columbus, Ohio (USA). Includes two bronze plaques -- one for soldiers and one for those on the home front: "Men win glory in the fierce heat of conflict but the glory of woman is more hardly won. Upon her falls the burden of maintaining the family and the home, nursing the sick and wounded, and restoring the courage of the broken. She endures the suspense of battle without its exaltation. The memorial is erected in grateful tribute to the loyal women of 61-65, without whose help no victory or lasting peace could ever have been won." Image and inscription are from two different web sites. Do they match?

1924 - Civil War Nurses, M Street & Rhode Island Avenue, Washington, DC (USA). Bas relief flanked by statues of Patriotism (with shield) & Peace (with wings). Sculpted by Irish sculptor Jerome Connor [1874-1943]. Also called 'The Nuns of the Battlefield.' Inscribed, 'They comforted the dying, nursed the wounded, carried hope to the imprisoned, gave in His name a drink of water to the thirsty.' Raised by the Ladies Auxiliary of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), the memorial was originally designed for Arlington Cemetery, until the War Department objected. It was then proposed for location behind the Pan American Union building ... but the Fine Arts Commission objected to that. Finally, Connor downscaled the size of the memorial and got permission to build it at its present site. Then he had to sue the Ancient Order for payment."

November 11, 1927 - Peace Monument, Battlefield Drive & Granny White Pike, Nashville, Tennessee (USA). Angel of Peace at top. Lower group depicts a youth (the united nation) reigning in two powerful horses (North & South) under a rainbow of peace. Designed by Italian Giuseppe Moretti [1857-1935] most famous for Vulcan in Birmingham, Alabama (1904). Originally dedicated on Armistice Day 1927. Rededicated in 1999 after being moved from original base which was encroached by a modern expressway. The 1927 & 1999 bases are identical with the same three inscriptions: Text #1: "The spirit of youth holds in check the contending forces that struggled here in the fierce Battle of Nashville, December 16th, 1864, sealing forever the bond of union by the blood of our heroic dead of the World War 1917-1918." Text #2 from Ralph Waldo Emerson [1803-1882]: "A monument like this, standing on such memories, having no reference to utilities, becomes a sentiment, a poet, a prophet, an orator, to every passerby." Text #3 is a poem by state librarian John Trotwood Moore [1858-1929]. Entry #934 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

July 3, 1938 - Vandalized on January 8, 2009 - Peace Light Memorial, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (USA). Dedicated by President Franklin Deleno Roosevelt on 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in presence of elderly veterans from both sides of the Civil War. Also known as Eternal Light Peace Memorial. Vandalized on January 8, 2009 (right image).

1944 - Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, Lincoln City, Indiana (USA). Lincoln lived here 1816-1830. "The centerpiece of the memorial is an one-story limestone ashlar memorial building completed in 1944 that features five sculpted murals of the different phases of Lincoln's life." Image shows reproduction of Lincoln's boyhood cabin.

1951 - "Peace at the End of the Civil War," Rotunda, US Capitol, Washington, DC (USA). The seventeenth in a series of 19 panels entitled the "Frieze of American History." "A Confederate soldier & a Union soldier shake hands, marking the reunion of the country after the devastation of the Civil War. A cotton plant & a northern pine tree symbolize the South & the North, respectively. This is the first of three panels by [1896-1982]."

February 1961 - Peace Commission Plaque, Willard Hotel, Pennsylvania Avenue at 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC (USA). Text: "THE PEACE CONVENTION. The old Willard Hotel was the scene of the last major effort to restore the Union and prevent the Civil War. At Virginia's invitation, delegates from twenty-one of the then thirty-four states met in secret session from February 4 to 27, 1861, in a vain attempt to solve the differences between the North and South. To honor those who worked for peace and unity, this memorial is erected by the Virginia Civil War Commission, February 1961." Sadly, the meeting failed. By the time Lincoln was inaugurated five days later, seven states had resolved to secede from the Union. Less than two months later, the Civil War began.

October 20, 2001 - Kentucky Memorial, Kentucky Avenue, Vicksburg, Mississippi (USA). "Soldiers from Kentucky fought on both sides of the Battle. The Memorial is a statue of Presidents Lincoln and Davis (both Kentucky natives) with words from both of them calling for reconciliation between the North and South. At the start of the war Kentucky declared itself to be Neutral and only sided with Union after a Confederate invasion. Even so, the Conferdacy still had support there and was able to recruit soldiers both then and during a later invasion in 1862."

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