Design
The platform for the monument, made of Vermont marble, is 252 feet (77 m) long and 71 feet (22 m) wide and is divided into three sections. The tall, middle section features a 10,700 pound, 17-foot-2-inch (5.23 m) high equestrian statue depicting Grant aboard his war horse Cincinnati on a 22½-foot high marble pedestal.
A striking feature of the central statue is Grant's calm (almost disaffected) attitude amidst the raging fighting going on around him. This is not surprising because Grant was known for his calmness and coolheadedness during battle. In sharp contrast to Grant are the sculpture groups on either side, Cavalry Charge and Artillery, which
"...possess more dramatic interest and suspense than any sculpture in the city and, indeed, in the Nation."
Surrounding the main pedestal are four shorter pedestals, each supporting a bronze lion in repose guarding both the United States flag and the flags of the Army. The memorial was the largest bronze sculpture cast in the United States at that time.
The Artillery Group to the south shows a caisson carrying three artillerymen and pulled by three horses. Astride the horse on the left is the guidon (flag) carrier who is signaling a sharp right wheel. Despite the impending course change the horse on the right is able to continue lunging forward due to a broken strap on the right bridle bit. To the north the Cavalry Group depicts a color squad consisting of seven cavalrymen charging into battle. The horse on the right has fallen and the rider, modeled after Shrady himself, is moments from being trampled by the onrushing horses.
Read more about this topic: Ulysses S. Grant Memorial
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“What but design of darkness to appall?—
If design govern in a thing so small.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“With wonderful art he grinds into paint for his picture all his moods and experiences, so that all his forces may be brought to the encounter. Apparently writing without a particular design or responsibility, setting down his soliloquies from time to time, taking advantage of all his humors, when at length the hour comes to declare himself, he puts down in plain English, without quotation marks, what he, Thomas Carlyle, is ready to defend in the face of the world.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)