The Sherman Memorial

William Tecumseh Sherman was born in 1820 in Lancaster, Ohio. He attended the West Point US Military Academy and served in the Mexican War. In 1861, he became a volunteer in the Union army. He fought in Shiloh and Bull Run, and earned a Confederate surrender in 1865. He became the US General in 1869. After he retired, he sat for a portrait for Augustus Saint-Gaudens, which became the Sherman Memorial, one of the most celebrated memorials in the US today.

While Saint-Gaudens worked with General Sherman, he found himself enthralled by the man's stories, and it helped him to put the best effort into his work. General Sherman died in 1891, and was never able to see the completed monument. Saint-Gaudens continued to labor over it, even when he began to fall ill. The sculpture was unveiled in 1903 on Memorial Day. It took eleven years from start to finish.

I believe Saint-Gaudens at this point in time knew the value of working on a piece so diligently. It was his last significant sculpture, and it stands as a monument to the life and services of General Sherman.

Perhaps one day you will walk by the Grand Army Plaza in Manhattan and see this sculpture in person. It is a hope of mine, as I know that there is nothing quite like seeing a magnificent sculpture or painting with your own eyes. I am also intrigued by the history of General Sherman's life, and hope to learn more about this great man as well.

-Penny Lane

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Now: Up at the Springville Museum of Art

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