Front Inscription -
On Fames Eternal camping grounds,
Their silent tents are spread
And Glory guards in solumn rounds,
The Bivouac of the dead.
Right Inscription -
Soldiers of 1861-1865
Reverse Inscription -
Erected May 30, 1902
to the Memory
of the Heroic Dead
---by---
A Patriotic, Loyal and
Grateful People.
Four hundred thousand of the brave
Made this our ransomed soil their grave.
Left Inscription -
G.A.R.
From the Smithsonian website:
(
visit link)
"SCULPTOR:
Unknown
CONTRACTOR:
Barwick, J. S.
MEDIUM:
Figure: carved marble; Base: marble
TYPE:
Sculptures-Outdoor Sculpture
Sculptures
OWNER/LOCATION:
Wyuka Cemetery 3600 O Street Lincoln Nebraska 68510
DATE:
Ca. 1902. Dedicated May 30, 1902
TOPIC:
History--United States--Civil War
Figure male--Full length
Occupation--Military--Soldier
Dress--Uniform--Military Uniform
CONTROL NUMBER:
IAS NE000160
NOTES:
Save Outdoor Sculpture, Nebraska survey, 1995.
National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, NE7009, 1989.
Monumental News, Aug. 1902, pg. 492.
SUMMARY:
A mustached figure of a Civil War soldier, dressed in a military uniform consisting of a thigh-length coat, trousers, boots, and ammunition pack, stands next to a tree stump at his proper left and holds the barrel of a rifle with both hands; the butt rests by his proper right foot. A bayonet hangs from his belt at his proper left side. The figure is placed atop an inscribed and decorated multitiered base."
From the Wyuka Cemetery Tour brochure:
(
visit link)
"In 1892 the Nebraska legislature required Wyuka to create a special section for the free burial of “G. A. R. Men”–members of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Union veterans’ organization. Eventually over 400 soldiers and sailors were buried in this section, and nearly 1,000 Civil War veterans were buried throughout the cemetery. The gravestones of the Civil War soldiers typically list just their name and the unit in which they served–not the dates of birth or death. Most of the regiments in which they served were raised on a state-by-state basis, which today provides a glimpse of the many states of origin of early settlers in Nebraska. The limestone figure at the center of the section honors all the Union soldiers of the Civil War. It was erected in 1902 to some controversy, with some critics contending that marble or bronze should have been used instead of limestone. The fine sculptural-grade stone has endured well for a century."