Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
The Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument is a Civil War monument in downtown Detroit, Michigan, located at the southeast end of Campus Martius Park. It stands where Cadillac Square, Fort Street, Michigan Avenue, Monroe Avenue, and Woodward Avenue converge near the rebuilt rotunda in front of One Campus Martius. Designed by Rogers, the monument is built as a series of octagonal sections rising from the base. Eagles, four male military figures, and four allegorical female figures representing Victory, History, Emancipation, and Union decorate the structure. The top figure, Michigania or Victory, holds a sword and shield. The monument was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
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Identification | |
| Title | Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument |
| Sculpture type | Civic sculpture |
| Type | Civil War monument commemorating Michigan's soldiers and sailors killed during the Civil War |
Historical context | |
| Fundraising association | Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Association |
| Founded by | Governor Austin Blair |
| Founded in | 1865 |
| Funding method | Voluntary subscriptions from citizens |
| Purpose of fundraising | To raise funds for a monument commemorating Michiganders who died during the American Civil War |
Creator | |
| Sculptor | Randolph Rogers |
| Reason sculptor was selected | He had created similar Civil War memorials in Ohio and Rhode Island |
Discovery and provenance | |
| Unveiled on | April 9, 1872 |
| Attended by | Generals George Armstrong Custer, Philip H. Sheridan, and Ambrose E. Burnside |
| Listed on the National Register of Historic Places | 1984 |
Physical characteristics | |
| Female allegorical figures | Four female figures on pedestals above the male figures, added in 1881 |
| Crowning figure | A heroic Amazon figure named Michigania, or Victory |
| Relief plaques | Four plaques with bas-reliefs |
| Upper section figures | Four male figures |
| Lower sections | Topped by eagles with raised wings |
| Overall form | A series of octagonal sections rising from the base of the monument |
Materials | |
| Figure inspiration | Local tradition claims Rogers used Sojourner Truth, the African American abolitionist, as the inspiration for the Emancipation figure, but there is little evidence for this |
Appearance | |
| Male figures represent | Navy, Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery |
| Female figures represent | Victory, History, Emancipation, and Union |
| Plaque subjects | Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, and David Farragut |
| Crowning figure attributes | Wields a sword in her right hand and raises a shield in her left, prepared for attack |
Location and ownership | |
| Public access | Open to the public |
| Site context | In the reconstructed traffic circle in front of the One Campus Martius building, where Woodward Avenue, Michigan Avenue, Monroe Street, Fort Street, and Cadillac Square converge |
| Current location | Southeast tip of Campus Martius Park, downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States |
History and restoration | |
| Relocation | Repositioned on the Campus Martius Park traffic circle during the park's restoration |
| Rededication ceremony | Held in 2005 after completion of the new Campus Martius plaza in downtown Detroit |
| Time capsule | Opened in 2005 |
| List updated | The list of Michigan war dead was updated in 2005 to include those killed from the Civil War through April 2005, including Iraq and Afghanistan |
| Participating groups in 2005 ceremony | Civil War re-enactors, descendant organizations of the Grand Army of the Republic, representatives from the Detroit City Council, the Michigan National Guard, and the Second Baptist Church men's choir |
Significance | |
| Description | The state's foremost Civil War monument |
| Artist noted for | Creating similar Civil War commemorative monuments in Ohio and Rhode Island |