Diary of Orrin Brown, Indianapolis, Indiana
Saturday–Oct. 15th
Got up this morning and found it cloudy and a little cooler, we were arroused about 3AM on account of the desertion of 3 or 4 Bounty jumpers or Subs. from Canada cut a board off and crawled out under the fence we layed around and stood around in our corner all day this evening it looks like rain so we were marched into the baracks for the night we were routed out about 9:30PM wit orders to prepair to march to the depo on double quick and were marched down to the cars and then could not go, we were then marched back to camp, the Captain of the camp wasent going to let us into the barracks but he finally concluded that he had better let us in to keep peace for we did not intend to be run over that way if we were drafted men from Mich.
The Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indianapolis is a particularly impressive piece of civic art. The site at the intersection of Meridian St and Market St was originally designed to be the location of the Indiana Governor’s Mansion. Celebrated as one of the world’s great monuments, the monument stands as a powerful symbol for both the city and the state of Indiana. Serving as the official memorial to Indiana’s veterans of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War, Frontier Wars, and Spanish-American War, the monument is constructed of gray oolitic limestone from the Romona quarries in Owen County. The soaring structure reaches 284 feet, 6 inches—just 15 feet shorter than the Statue of Liberty—and was completed in 1902 at a cost of just shy of $600,000. That’s about $22.6 million today.
The construction commission held an international design competition, receiving seventy proposals before selecting two finalists. From these, the winning design was awarded to Berlin architect Bruno Schmitz. Schmitz incorporated numerous works of art into the monument, enlisting sculptor Rudolf Schwarz to create the statuary groups “War” and “Peace,” “The Dying Soldier,” “The Homefront,” and four corner statues representing the Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, and Navy. Crowning the monument is a statue of Victory, holding a sword in her right hand and a torch in her left, symbolizing triumph and enlightenment
Even if you’re just passing through town, it is worth a visit.
Read More:
- Hoosiers on the Home Front by Dawn Bakken (Indiana University Press, 2022)
- Indiana in the Civil War Era, 1850-1880 by Emma Lou Thornbrough (Indiana Historical Society, 1991)
- “The Impact of the Civil War on Indiana” by John D. Barnhart, Indiana Magazine of History Vol. 57, No. 3 (September 1961)
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