The statue of

John Aaron Rawlins John Aaron Rawlins (February 13, 1831 September 6, 1869) was a general officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War and a cabinet officer in the Grant administration. A longtime confidant of Ulysses S. Grant, Rawlins served on Grant's ...

, a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

general who served during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and later as

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

, is a focal point of

Rawlins Park Rawlins Park is a park in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. between the George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered re ...

, a small public park in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Foggy Bottom Foggy Bottom is one of the oldest late 18th- and 19th-century neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., located west of the White House and downtown Washington, in the Northwest quadrant. It is bounded roughly by 17th Street NW to the east, Rock C ...

neighborhood. It was installed in 1874, but relocated several times between 1880 and 1931. The statue was sculpted by French-American artist Joseph A. Bailly, whose best known work is the statue of George Washington in front of

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers. The structure forms the centerpi ...

in Philadelphia. The

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting (metalworking), cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as w ...

, which rests on a granite base, is one of the city's eighteen Civil War monuments that were collectively listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1978. The monument and park are owned and maintained by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

, a federal agency of the

Interior Department An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

. The statue is considered by historians to be one of the better portrait statues in Washington, D.C.

History

Background

(1831–1869) was a lawyer and native of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

who organized the

45th Illinois Infantry The 45th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, the "Washburn Lead Mine Regiment", was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. In response to President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers, it was organiz ...

for the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

during the

. He served as a confidant and the closest advisor to General

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

during the war and served as Grant's

after Grant was elected president of the United States. Rawlins died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

five months into his term as secretary. During his short term in office, Rawlins spoke passionately about the plight of recently freed slaves and tried to protect Native Americans from military officers who were cruel to them. He also tried to protect Grant from men who would "lead him away from the straight and true." One of Rawlins' colleagues said "he had blunt, wrathful words of objurgation for those who put in Grant's way temptations that he knew to be dangerous." John Aaron Rawlins - Brady-Handy

Soon after Rawlins' death in 1869, efforts were under way to erect a statue honoring him. Interest in the project waned until 1872 when Grant wrote a letter to Congress to address the delay. On June 10, 1872, a congressional bill sponsored by Illinois Senator

John A. Logan John Alexander Logan (February 9, 1826 – December 26, 1886) was an American soldier and politician. He served in the Mexican–American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a st ...

, who had served under Grant and admired Rawlins, was approved with $10,000 appropriated for the erection of the statue. The legislation included instructions for a committee to be created that would solicit models and select an artist. The committee consisted of General

Orville E. Babcock Orville Elias Babcock (December 25, 1835 – June 2, 1884) was an American engineer and general in the Union Army during the Civil War. An aide to General Ulysses S. Grant during and after the war, he was President Grant's military private secret ...

, Architect of the Capitol Edward Clark, and Librarian of Congress Ainsworth Rand Spofford. Sculptors that submitted designs included Theophilus Fisk Mills, son of Clark Mills, and Lot Flannery, sculptor of the 1868 ''

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

'' statue. The artist chosen was Joseph A. Bailly (1825–1883), a French-born American sculptor whose best known work is the 1869 statue of George Washington in Philadelphia. Bailly's other works in Washington, D.C. include sculptures of Benjamin Hallowell and Alexander "Boss" Shepherd. The statue was founded by Robert Wood & Company. The bronze used for the statue was cast from

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

cannons captured during the Civil War. The total cost of the statue and its installation was $13,000. The original planned site for the statue was Franklin Square, though the site where it was installed was

, a small park in what was then an unkept and remote area. There was no formal dedication ceremony when it was installed in November 1874. The following year, the statue was placed atop a granite base constructed by the Westham Granite Company of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Virginia.

Later history

In 1880, members of the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...

visited the statue and were dismayed by the park and its surroundings. They petitioned to have the statue moved to a more prominent location, 10th and D Streets NW, where it stood until a newspaper plant was built on that site. It was then moved to the north side of

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4 ...

between 7th Street and 9th Street NW, but a public restroom was built on the site in 1886 and the statue was moved across the street. In 1931, construction began on the

National Archives Building The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, is the headquarters of the United States National Archives and Records Administration. It is located north of the National Mall at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest, Washington, ...

and the statue was moved for the last time to its original location, Rawlins Park. Rawlins Park was greatly improved with the addition of walkways and a reflecting pool in 1938. In 1963, Wyoming Representative William H. Harrison unsuccessfully attempted to have the statue moved to Rawlins, a town named after the general. The statue is one of eighteen

Civil War monuments in Washington, D.C. The Civil War Monuments in Washington, D.C. are a group of seventeen outdoor statues which are spread out through much of central and northwest Washington, D.C. The statues depict 11 Union generals and formerly included one Confederate general, A ...

that were collectively listed on the

on September 20, 1978, and the

District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites The District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites is a register of historic places in Washington, D.C. that are designated by the District of Columbia Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB), a component of the District of Columbia Govern ...

on March 3, 1979. It is one of the few Civil War monuments that is a not an

equestrian sculpture An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a d ...

. The others are the

Dupont Circle Fountain The Dupont Circle Fountain, formally known as the Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Dupont Memorial Fountain, is a fountain located in the center of Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. It honors Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont, a prominent American ...

, Stephenson Grand Army of the Republic Memorial,

Nuns of the Battlefield ''Nuns of the Battlefield'' is a public artwork made in 1924 by Irish artist Jerome Connor, located at the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue NW, M Street, and Connecticut Avenue NW, in Washington, D.C., United States. A tribute to the more tha ...

, the

Peace Monument The Peace Monument, also known as the Naval Monument or Civil War Sailors Monument, stands on the grounds of the United States Capitol in Peace Circle at First Street, N.W., and Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. The 44 foot (13.4 m) high ...

, and statues of Admiral David G. Farragut and

CSA CSA may refer to: Arts and media * Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television * Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics * Crime Syndicate of Amer ...

Brigadier General Albert Pike. (The Pike statue was toppled by protesters on On June 19, 2020.) The statue and surrounding park are owned and maintained by the

, a federal agency of the

. Historian James M. Goode, author of ''Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C.'', considers it one of the better portrait statues in Washington, D.C., and thinks the statue has a "certain elegance and spirit."

Design and location

The statue is sited on the eastern end of Rawlins Park, a small public park located between

18th Street 18th Street may refer to: Los Angeles * 18th Street gang, an Hispanic street gang Manhattan, New York City * 18th Street (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line); a subway station serving the trains * 18th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line), an ...

, 19th Street, E Street and New York Avenue NW in the

neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The

Main Interior Building The Main Interior Building, officially known as the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building, located in Washington, D.C., is the headquarters of the United States Department of the Interior. Located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood ...

lies to the south of the park, General Services Administration Building is on the north side of the park, and

The Octagon House The Octagon House, also known as the Colonel John Tayloe III House, is located at 1799 New York Avenue, Northwest in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. After the British destroyed the White House during the War of 1812, the hou ...

is on the northeast corner of the park. The bronze statue measures tall and the light gray, pedestal-style granite base measures high and wide. The statue depicts Rawlins standing while wearing his Civil War military uniform: a hat, long belted jacket, tall boots, and gloves. His left leg is slightly forward and his right hand is holding a pair of field glasses by his side. He left hand is holding the sword handle which rests at his side. Rawlins is depicted with a beard and moustache. The inscription "RAWLINS" is on the front of the base. The inscriptions "R. WOOD & CO / BRONZE FOUNDERS / PHILA" and "A. BAILLY, sculpt / 1873" are on the sculpture.

References

External links