The ''Soldiers and Sailors Monument'' is a work of

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

Delphi, Indiana Delphi () is a city in and the county seat of Carroll County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. Located twenty minutes northeast of Lafayette, it is part of the Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,893 at the 2010 c ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is located at the Carroll County Courthouse, and comprises the collection 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 v ...

listing making up the courthouse and the square.

Description

The memorial is made of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

and has a base made of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

. On the top of a tall shaft is a

color bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a Standard (flag), standard or Military colours, standards and guidons, military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible b ...

from the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The color bearer holds a staff with a furled flag in both hands. It is held to his proper left side. The shaft the figure is standing on has two pieces of bunting decorating it, along with eagles, military medals, and a row of mortar shells and

round shot A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a la ...

. The tower is resting on a

battlement A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

style design. Each corner of the battlement design has a musket made of bronze. There are four in total. There is a bronze

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

panel on each side of the base. They depict: #Six

infantrymen Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marin ...

fighting eight

artillerymen Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, ...

, representing the

Battle of Shiloh The Battle of Shiloh (also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing) was fought on April 6–7, 1862, in the American Civil War. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater. The battlefield i ...

and

Battle of Stones River The Battle of Stones River, also known as the Second Battle of Murfreesboro, was a battle fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the Ame ...

#Soldiers going off into battle and saying goodbye to their families to fight at the Battle of the Wilderness and

Battle of Cedar Creek The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, was fought on October 19, 1864, during the American Civil War. The fighting took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Northern Virginia, near Cedar Creek, Middletown, and the Valley Pike. D ...

#Soldiers returning from battle from the

Siege of Vicksburg The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Missis ...

and Battle of Champion Hill, titled ''The Return Home'' #

Cavalrymen Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...

fighting infantrymen at the

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

and

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

One of the panels is titled "The Dying Soldier," but it is unclear what one. The base also has cut stone decorating it. A plaque, made of bronze, on the east side of the base says: :ERECTED BY CARROLL COUNTY INDIANA :IN MEMORY OF HER SOLDIERS AND SAILORS

Acquisition

The county held an international competition for the creation of the monument. It was held in 1887. Architect Bruno Schmitz was awarded the commission, and he hired Rudolf Schwarz as the sculptor. The exact date of the installation of the piece has yet to be determined. Documentation states that it was installed in either 1882, 1886 or 1888.

Other information

The piece has been described as being a combination of an "Egyptian

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

form with Romantic classical elements" by historians. Sculptor Rudolf Schwarz also worked on the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Indianapolis, therefore the Delphi piece has some of that influence in it.

Condition

The sculpture was examined by a

Save Outdoor Sculpture! Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) was a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. The program was initiated in 1989 and ended in 1999. History Save Outdoor Sculpture! was initiated by Herit ...

surveyor in 1993. It was described as being "well maintained."

Controversy

Author and director of Indiana's Save Outdoor Sculpture! initiative Glory-Jume Grieff states, "This pieces sometimes mistakenly attributed to Austrian-born sculptor Rudolpph Schwarz (1866-1912) but it was completed fifteen years before Schwarz arrived in Indiana."Grieff, Glory-June, ''Remenbrance, Faith and Fancy: Outdoor Public Sculpture in Indiana'', Indiana Historical Society Press, Indianapolis, 2005, p. 100 The same is true for architect Schmitz.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Carroll County, Indiana Delphi, Indiana Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Carroll County, Indiana Outdoor sculptures in Indiana Tourist attractions in Carroll County, Indiana Union (American Civil War) monuments and memorials in Indiana