Gettysburg Sculptures
I HAVE A NEW SITE NAMED "GETTYSBURG REMEmBERED" PLEASE SEE THIS SITE FOR CONTINUING INFORMATION ON THE GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD. I HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE.
CLICK THIS LINK TO VISIT GETTYSBURG REMEMBERED SITE
Gettysburg Sculptures
United States
- Gettysburg Sculptures Home
- About Us
- Contact Gettysburg Sculptures
- Northern Equestrian Monuments at Gettysburg
- Northern Officer's Statues at Gettysburg
- Bronze Southern State Memorials at Gettysburg
- Northern Regimental Monuments and State Memorials
- Historic Individual's Bronze Statues at Gettysburg
- Sculptors of Bronze Memorials at Gettysburg
- Gettysburg: Miscellaneous Items of Interest
- "Then and Now" Pictures and Stories about the Gettysburg Battlefield
Featured Monument:
Soldiers and Sailors of the Confederacy Monument
Bronze sculpture by Donald De Lue.
Located on South Confederate Ave. (see Google map link at bottom of page)
Many do not know that the site of the Soldiers and Sailors Confederate Monument is located where the original Lt. General James Longstreet monument was to be placed. The General's wife, Helen Dortch Longstreet had spent years working to have a monument to the General placed at Gettysburg. On October 27, 1939 Mrs. Longstreet along with the Superintendent of the Gettysburg National Military Park, James R. McConaghie walked the area and selected the site for the Longstreet Monument. Formal ground breaking and dedication ceremonies were held on the site on July 2, 1941. However, due to WW II and the lack of funds after the war the monument to General Longstreet was never placed on this site.
Click this link to vivit the sculptor of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument
Click this link to visit the original location for the Longstreet Equestrian
(hover over the lower right corner of photo and a magnifying glass icon will appear. Click on the icon to enlarge the photo)
Soldiers and Sailors of the Confederacy Monument
Dedicated August 25, 1965
"striding, flag-bearing image of a Southern Warrior [that] suggests Michelangelo's awesome Moses; having sprung from his seated position into the dynamic action that always seems his potential." (Wayne Craven)
Wayne Craven's quote sums up the view one enjoys when standing in front of this great bronze. A strong, eager, southern color-bearer encouraging his comrades on as the attack begins.
The bronze statue does not represent one individual soldier or Southern regiment but the "spirit" of the military forces of the Confederacy. The bronze statue stands fourteen feet in height and as mounted on its granite base stands nearly 20 feet in overall height.
"One stands in awe before the monumental beauty of a great bronze hand or foot, or senses in the twisted positions, or contraposto, of the figures the anguish of the moment represented." (Wayne Craven)
De Lue captured the fury of battle in the facial expression of the soldier.
De Lue completed and signed the base of the clay model in 1964 as seen above.
A tense and powerful hand grasps the Southern banner.
The south, limited in its ability to produce war materials, was always in need of supplies. De Lue has expressed this shortage of even basic needs such as shoes in the monument.
When you view this monument note the "strength" displayed in the form of the soldier. 
De Lue has captured a stone wall similar to the one behind the monument that southern soldiers would step over on the afternoon of July 2nd as the attack of the second day at Gettysburg would begin.
The base of the monument bears the names of the eleven states of the Confederacy and the three Border States. All would contribute funds to build the monument. Each of the original eleven southern states would contribute $3000. The three southern Border States would each contribute $1000.
On the back of the base of the monument is engraved the name of Walter Washington Williams. Williams was a supposed wagon master with a Texas regiment but there is some discussion that he was not. At the time of the dedication he was thought to be the last Confederate Soldier to pass away. He would die December 19, 1959. Research since has indicated that the last Confederate Soldier to die was more than likely John B. Salling of Company D, 25th Virginia Infantry who died March 16, 1959.
Gettysburg Sculptures
United States