The Scout - Lieutenent Colonel Henry H. Young - Providence, Rhode Island - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

"The Scout" is a memorial sculpture in Providence, Rhode Island, which honors Major Henry Harrison Young for his service to the Union in the Civil War. The larger-than-life-size, full-length figure is bronze and mounted on a boulder base. Together, the elements are approximately ten feet tall. The statue sits at the upper part of a slope near the center of the small Biltmore Park, south of Exchange Terrace and northeast of The Biltmore on Dorrance Street.

The SIRIS description is: "Full-length portrait of Lt. Colonel Henry H. Young standing on a boulder. He wears a military uniform, boots, and a soft hat. He holds a pistol in his proper right hand which is at his side. A small gun is tucked in his proper left boot." But, according to its Wikipedia article, the statue is most likely representative instead of literal because the uniform and apparatus are those of a Calvary soldier, while Young was an Infantry officer.

The sculptor's name, Henri Schonardt, appears in block letters at the front face of the bronze base. The Gorham Co. Founders mark is along at the proper right back face of the bronze base by the statue's foot. Two cast plaques are attached to the boulder, one each at the proper right and left sides. The right reads:

RHODE ISLAND'S TRIBUTE TO
MAJOR HENRY HARRISON YOUNG
FOR VALOR, DURING THE CIVIL WAR,
1861 - 1865.
MAJOR SECOND R.I. VOLUNTEERS INF.'
BREVET LIEUT. COL. U.S. VOLS.
CHIEF OF SCOUTS TO GEN. SHERIDAN.

"TO MAJOR H.H. YOUNG, OF MY STAFF, CHIEF OF SCOUTS,
AND THE THIRTY OR FORTY MEN OF HIS COMMAND, WHO
TOOK THEIR LIVES IN THEIR HANDS, CHEERFULLY GOING
WHEREVER ORDERED, TO OBTAIN THAT GREATEST ESSENTIAL
OF SUCCESS, INFORMATION, I TENDER MY GRATITUDE, TEN
OF THESE MEN WERE LOST."
P.H. SHERIDAN,
MAJOR GENERAL COMMANDING.

The plaque to the left reads:

ERECTED BY THE
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
AS AN INCENTIVE TO PATRIOTISM
JULY, 1911.
JOSEPH P. MANTON
WILLIAM A. SPICER
STEPHEN H. BROWN
CHARELS H. WILLIAMS
WARREN RALPH
EZRA DIXON
FRANK H. HAMMIL
COMMISSIONERS.
HENRI SCHONHARDT
SCULPTOR

Young was born in Mendon, Massachusetts on February 9, 1841, and lived in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, when the Civil War began in 1861. With much enthusiasm, he traveled through the local villages of the Blackstone Valley to enlist men for the Union Army.

He enlisted on June 6, 1861, as a private in the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry. He was promoted twice following heroic fighting in battles during the rest of that year. He was promoted again in April 1863 to captain, but, to his dismay, was assigned to an administrative position instead of combat service. Promoted again in November 1864 to major, he was also reassigned as an acting aide-de-camp and scout to Major General Philip Sheridan, commander of the Calvary Corps of the Army of the Potomac where

"Young commanded a 58-man scout band, popularly called the 'Jessie Scouts', under General Sheridan in the final months of the war. The Jessie Scouts employed irregular warfare tactics, such as wearing enemy uniforms, and provided long range reconnaissance behind enemy lines. Other activities included tapping telegraph wires and misdirecting supply trains."

In February 1865 they captured Harry Gilmor and killed Guerilla leader Captain George W. Stump.

Young was promoted twice more - to major of the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry on November 14, 1864, and then brevetted to lieutenant colonel of Volunteers in March 1865 - and left the service in July of that year.

Artist: Henri Schonardt

Foundry: Gorham Manufacturing Company

Date: 1911

Medium: Figure: bronze; Base: boulder

Dimensions: Figure: approximate height 10 feet; Base: approx. 5 x 6 x 5 ft

Sources:
Wikipedia: Henry Young (major)
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian Institution Research Information System: The Scout

URL of the statue: [Web Link]

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