Soldiers' National Monument
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 Interactive map of Soldiers' National Monument | |
| Location | Gettysburg National Cemetery |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°49′11″N 77°13′52″W / 39.819767°N 77.231217°W[1] |
| Designer | Randolph Rogers George Keller (architect) |
| Beginning date | July 4, 1865[2] |
| Dedicated date | July 1, 1869[3] |
The Soldiers' National Monument is a Gettysburg Battlefield memorial which is located at the central point of Gettysburg National Cemetery.[4] It honors the battle's soldiers and tells an allegory of "peace and plenty under freedom … following a heroic struggle."[2] In addition to an inscription with the last 4 lines of the Gettysburg Address, the shaft with 4 buttresses has 5 statues:[5]: 166
A large statue representing the concept of Liberty surmounts the pedestal. Eighteen large bronze stars circling the pedestal below this statue represent the eighteen Union states with buried dead. A statue is located at each corner near the base. They represent War, History, Peace, and Plenty. War is represented by a statue of an American soldier who recounts the story of the battle to History. In turn, History records, with stylus and tablet, the achievements of the battle and the names of the honored dead. A statue of an American mechanic and his tools illustrates Peace. Plenty is a female figure with a sheaf of wheat and the fruits of the earth that typify peace and abundance as the soldier's crowning triumph.[2]
