Statue of Major General Rawlins dressed in his Civil War military uniform consisting of a long jacket with belt, trousers, tall boots, gloves and broad-brimmed hat. He has his scabbarded sword at this side. He is standing erect with his left foot forward. He has a pair of field glasses in his right hand and his left hand is on the handle of his sword. The statue stands on a multi-tier granite pedestal with the following incription: "Rawlins"
Major General Rawlins (1831-1869) was a lawyer practicing in Illinois before he joined the Union army at the outbreak of the Civil War. He organized the 45th Illinois Infantry and became a close adviser to General Ulysses S. Grant who was serving as colonel of the 21st Illinois Infantry. He eventually became Grant's aid-de-camp and by 1865, Rawlins had risen to the rank of major general. Following the Civil War, Rawlins traveled to the western United States to recover from tuberculosis and while camping in Wyoming, created the town of Rawlins. (In 1963, citizens of Rawlins, Wyoming unsuccessfully petitioned to have the statue of Rawlins relocated to their town.) When Grant became president, Rawlins served in his cabinet as secretary of war.
Sculpture was approved by an Act of Congress on June 10, 1872. Westham Granite Company was responsible for the stonework. The sculpture is said to have been cast from a cannon captured by the general during the Civil War. This sculpture was originally installed in Rawlins Park in 1874, but by 1880 the park was not very well kept and when a Grand Army of the Republic veterans group saw the park, they asked for that the sculpture be relocated. The piece was then placed at 10th and D Streets, N.W. where is stood until it was replaced with a statue of Benjamin Franklin. The piece was then moved to Pennsylvania Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets, N.W. and was moved a third time when construction of a public restroom caused the piece to be relocated across the street. When a new government building was erected on this spot, the piece was then moved back to Rawlins Park, which by this time was in better shape. In 1938, the park was improved with the addition of a reflecting pool and walkways.
John Aaron Rawlins (February 13, 1831 – September 6, 1869) was an United States Army general during the American Civil War, a confidant of Ulysses S. Grant, and later U.S. Secretary of War.
Born on February 13, 1831 in Galena, Illinois, to son of James Dawson Rawlins, who became from Missouri Territory, and his wife, Lovisa Jane Rawlins (Collier). Rawlins practiced law there after being admitted to the bar in 1854. In 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, Rawlins met Ulysses S. Grant, who was raising a regiment from Galena to answer President Abraham Lincoln's call for troops. He initially served as a volunteer aide-de-camp, but at Grant's request, Rawlins joined the United States Army as a captain and assistant adjutant general under Grant's command. Rawlins remained with Grant throughout the war, in roles of increasing responsibility and rank, including Chief of Staff of the Army of the Tennessee and of the Military Division of the Mississippi. He was known for his great attention to detail, as well as being a stickler for proper protocol. He was promoted to brigadier general on August 11, 1863. When Grant was promoted to general in chief of all the Union armies, Rawlins became Chief of Staff of the General Headquarters of the United States Army. He was promoted to brevet major general on February 24, 1865, to brigadier general in the regular army March 3, and brevet major general in the regular army on April 9.
Rawlins remained with Grant even after the general was elected President, serving as Grant's first Secretary of War. However, Rawlins had contracted tuberculosis, and his failing health caused his term in office to be brief (March 11 – September 6, 1869). His doctors recommended that Rawlins go to Arizona, where the dry desert climate would allow him to live longer. Rawlins refused, wishing to stay at Grant's side as his Secretary of War. Rawlins died of tuberculosis on September 6, 1869, in Washington, D.C. and was buried in Congressional Cemetery, but his remains were later relocated to Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia. Rawlins with the first wife, Emily Smith, who died in 1861. John Rawlins with second wife, Emma Hurlburt Rawlins. His daughter, Mary Rawlins died in young aged, and was survived by his five children.
A statue, General John A. Rawlins was erected in Washington, D.C. in 1874. The town of Rawlins, county seat of Carbon County, Wyoming, is named for him, as well as Rawlins County, Kansas.