Monuments

Situated in Union Square at the edge of the reflecting pool against the backdrop of the United States Capitol, the bronze and marble General Ulysses S. Grant Memorial honors the Civil War Commander of the Union Armies who was also a two-term President. It marks the eastern terminus of the National Mall and faces the Lincoln Memorial almost two miles to the west, symbolically linking the President and the General who fought to save the Union.

Celebrated as the largest equestrian monument in the United States when it was unveiled, it is 252 feet long by 71 feet wide by 44 feet high and is a tour de force of monumental sculpture. It is a remarkable achievement by a sculptor who, with little formal training, toiled twenty years to translate his grand vision into cast bronze.

At two and one-half times life size, the figure of Grant mounted on his horse forms the monument's apex atop a pedestal that is over twenty-two feet high. Four lions lying with heads erect, guarding the flags of the Army and the United States, mark the corners of an imaginary pyramid's base and visually align with the life-size Cavalry Group on the north and Artillery Group on the south.

The monument is an essay in opposites, contrasting Grant's customary stillness while observing battles with the turbulence of the charging Cavalry and Artillery. The symmetry and simplicity of the classically styled platform, suggesting a reviewing stand, provide an effective stage for the heightened realism of the bronze components.

The neoclassical marble Peace Monument, also known as the Naval Monument or Civil War Sailors' Monument, commemorates the naval deaths of Union sailors. Simmons based the complex allegory on a rough sketch by Admiral David D. Porter.

At the top of the Peace Monument, facing west, stand two classically robed female figures. Grief holds her covered face against the shoulder of History and weeps in mourning. History holds a stylus and a tablet that was inscribed "They died that their country might live."

Below them, also facing west, a life-size female figure representing Victory holds high a laurel wreath and carries an oak branch, signifying strength. Beside her feet sit the infant Mars, the god of war, and the infant Neptune, god of the sea. Opposite Victory, facing the U.S. Capitol, is Peace, a classical figure draped from the waist down and holding an olive sprig. Below her are symbols of the bountry and progress that peace makes possible, among them a sheaf of wheat, a cornucopia, a sickle, a gear, and a book.

The shaft of the monument is decorated with wreaths, ribbons, and scallop shells.

The Robert A. Taft Memorial and Carillon is unique among the Capitol's monuments: rising 10 stories, a sleek marble structure marked by a bronze statue of Taft houses a carillon, combining architecture, sound, and statuary. It honors the Senator from Ohio who served from 1938 to 1953. An inscription proclaims that it "stands as a tribute to the honesty, indomitable courage, and high principles of free government symbolized by his life."

The 27 bells in the upper part of the tower are among the finest in the world and were cast in the Paccard Bell Foundry in Annecy, France. The largest, or bourdon bell, weighs 7 tons. The bells are well matched and produce rich, resonant tones. At the dedication ceremony on April 14, 1959, former President Herbert Hoover stated, "When these great bells ring out, it will be a summons to integrity and courage." The bells are automatically operated to strike the hour and sound on the quarter hour; they can also be played manually.

The basin around the bottom of the tower is filled by jets of water, whose sound pleasantly enlivens the stillness of the memorial in its park setting.