General Philip Henry Sheridan - Chicago, IL
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adgorn
N 41° 56.423 W 087° 38.365
16T E 446996 N 4643354
An equestrian statue of Sheridan by Gutzon Borglum (sculptor of the figures on Mt. Rushmore) on an island at Belmont Avenue and Sheridan Road in Chicago depicts the general on his horse.
Waymark Code: WM66RR
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 04/13/2009
Views: 8
About the statue:
Commissioned 1909. 1923. Dedicated July 16,1924.
(On front of base:) SHERIDAN (On base plaque:)Philip H. Sheridan/graduated/from the/United States Military Academy/West Point/July 1, 1853/To Honor him and his alma mater, this tablet was/placed here by the Chicago Association of West Pointers on
September 19, 1934, the 70th Anniversary/of his victory on the battle of Opequan, Virginia
Sheridan is portrayed here seated on his horse as the commander of the Army of the Shenandoah on October 19, 1864, rallying his fleeing troops with outstretched proper right arm. He is seated on his horse with his body half turned to the proper right as he reins in his horse from a full gallop. The horse is positioned on top of a bronze boulder which rests on a square stone base on a circular stone platform.
About Sheridan, from wikipedia:
Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who transferred Sheridan from command of an infantry division in the Western Theater to lead the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac in the East. In 1864, he defeated Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley and his destruction of the economic infrastructure of the Valley, called "The Burning" by residents, was one of the first uses of scorched earth tactics in the war. In 1865, his cavalry pursued Gen. Robert E. Lee and was instrumental in forcing his surrender at Appomattox.
Sheridan prosecuted the later years of the Indian Wars of the Great Plains, tainting his reputation with some historians, who accuse him of racism and genocide. Both as a soldier and private citizen, he was instrumental in the development and protection of Yellowstone National Park.
Other notes: In 1871 Sheridan's command was stationed in Chicago. He was asked to maintain order in the city upon the aftermath of the Great Chicago Fire.
About the sculptor:
John Gutzon Borglum is known for the famous President’s Heads sculpted in Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. His complete name was (John) Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum. Born on 25th march 1867 in St. Charles, Idaho, John Gutzon Borglum sculpted many public works across the USA. He was Danish-American by birth.
In 1908 Borglum won a competition for a statue of the Civil War General Philip Sheridan to be placed in Sheridan Circle in Washington D.C. (see waypoints WM41HT and WM8M5) This second version was erected in Chicago in 1923. Winning this competition was a personal triumph for him because he won out over sculptor J.Q.A.Ward, a much older and more established artist, and one whom Borglum had clashed with earlier in regard to the National Sculpture Society. At the unveiling of the Sheridan one critic, President Theodore Roosevelt (whom Borglum was later to put on Mount Rushmore) declared that it was "first rate," and another critic was to state that, "as a sculptor Gutzon Borglum was no longer a rumor, he was a fact."
Identity of Rider: General Philip Henry Sheridan
Name of artist: Gutzon Borglum
Date of Dedication: July 16,1924
Material: Bronze
Unusual Features: action pose
Position: One Hoof Raised
Identity of Horse: Not listed
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