Description
The Lancaster Soldiers and Sailors Monument features a 43-foot (13 m) tall Rhode Island, rectangular granite pillar topped with a statue of a robed woman on a pedestal known as the "The Genius of Liberty". The Genius of Liberty holds a drawn sword and a shield. Her head is crowned with stars. She faces north which, according to legend, allows her to turn her back on the former Confederate States of America, which were defeated in the war.
Statues of four men representing the four branches of the American armed services surround the granite shaft near its base. The four branches represented by the men are the United States Navy, United States Army, Artillery and the United States Cavalry.
The names of several Civil War battles are carved on the monument's central granite pillar, as the memorial's original intent was to honor those killed in that particular war. The inscriptions include the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Chickamauga, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Battle of Malvern Hill, the Battle of Petersburg and the Battle of the Wilderness.
Several bronze plaques have been added to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument since its construction, memorializing members of the American armed forces. One plaque specifically commemorates the role of African Americans in the military. Other separate plaques honor those killed in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War.
The base of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument is carved with the inscription, "Erected by the people of Lancaster County/ To the memory of their fellow citizens who fell /in defense of the Union /in the War of the Rebellion /1861–1865"
Read more about this topic: Soldiers And Sailors Monument (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)
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