Monument City Blog

In 1986, William Donald Schaefer had a small plaque placed at the west end of War Memorial Plaza. The monument honors the members of the Baltimore community who have “unselfishly given their time, labor and talents to help improve the quality of life in our community without ever seeking reward or recognition.”

Nearby Monuments:

Location: Beechwood Drive near the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore

Planted in 1919, The Grove of Remembrance (or Memorial Grove Oaks) honors those who fought in World War I. Two markers stand at the entrance of the thicket, one showing dedication information and the other displaying a map of the woodland area. One tree was planted for every state, the city of Baltimore and Woodrow Wilson. As the years went by more trees were planted marking each subsequent American War. It is said to be the oldest living memorial in the United States.

Nearby Monuments:

Location: 219 West 29th Division Street

Outside of Maryland’s 5th Regiment Armory, within the property’s fence line, is a servicemen memorial. The monument is just off Howard Street and Bolton Street in Baltimore. On the armory building itself is Hans Schuler’s To the Glory of Maryland. Across the street is Congressional Medal of Honor Park containing the Hamman-Costin Monument.

This WWII Servicemen Memorial stands near Weldon Circle in the Medfield Community of Baltimore. The inscription on the back reads: “freedom of worship and speech, freedom from fear and want,” while the front states: “to the men and women of this community who served during the second world war, that freedom and justice might prevail.”

The commission for the Battle Monument was won by French architect Maximilian Godefroy in 1815, one year after the Battle of Baltimore. Godefroy hired Italian artist Antonio Capellano to complete the statue and relief work he incorporated into his design. While waiting for Godefroy during the monument’s conception, Capellano was hired by Robert Cary Long, Sr. to create facade reliefs for the third Old St. Paul’s Church. The building burned down in 1854, but the sculptures were spared and installed in Richard Upjohn’s building that stands today. Capellano and Godefroy also worked together on the First Unitarian Church (just north of the Basilica, approaching the Washington Monument) for which the Italian sculptor created the Angel of Truth in 1818. The sculpture was reconstructed by local artist Henry Berge (son of Edward Berge) in 1960.

This obelisk stands near the entrance to Baltimore City’s Central Booking. It’s very close to the original location of the Fallsway Fountain Monument, a Hans Schuler sculpture dedicated to the 1911-1916 fallsway water works project. The elaborate underground construction alleviated the city’s pressure issues by rerouting and containing dangerous water flow. The innovations ended downtown’s flooding problems.

A bronze bust of William Walters sits above the entrance to the historic Walters Art Museum near Baltimore’s Washington Monument. Inside the museum is the original marble bust created by William Rinehart. The bronze reproduction was presumably commissioned by William Walters son Henry.

Nearby Monuments:

Cathedral Street & W Mount Vernon Place (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 50.82″ N 76° 37′ 1.01″ W

History

A replica of Paul Dubois’ Military Courage statue stands at the west end of Mount Vernon Place, facing Cathedral Street. A gift of William Walters, the famous Baltimore art collector, the cast was installed at the historic park in 1885. Strongly influenced by the Italian Renaissance, Dubois modeled Military Courage after Michaelangelo’s statue at the tomb of Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence. Three other statues were sculpted along with Courage, entitled Faith, Meditation and Charity, the set serving as pillars for the tomb of General Jucault de Lamoricière in Nantes Cathedral, France.

Notes

Looking south from the statue you’ll find the Garrett House, the former residence of Robert Garrett II, once a prominent President of the B & O Railroad. The forty room mansion spans multiple row-houses and is the work of acclaimed architect Stanford White. Contracted by Garrett and his wife, in 1884, to remodel and combine the homes the couple had recently purchased, White spent the next nine years creating the lavish residence. Since 1961, the Engineer’s Society of Baltimore has owned and maintained the property.

Nearby

• Barye Lion
• Washington Monument
• Marquis de Lafayette
• Sea Urchin in Mount Vernon
• George Peabody
• Severn Teackle Wallis
• John Eager Howard
• Roger B. Taney

Links

• On Panoramio [2] [3] & Flickr [2]

E Monument Street & N Aisquith Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 52.66″ N 76° 36′ 6.84″ W

History

Daniel Wells and Henry McComas were apprentice saddle makers in Charm City during the War of 1812. By 1814, the teenagers were part of Captain Edward Aisquith’s Militia Rifle Company, preparing for an eventual English attack. After successfully sacking Washington DC, including the White House, The British decided to swing by Baltimore in hopes of eliminating the pirates and privateers stationed in the notorious port. General Robert Ross was in command of the invading land troops that approached the town’s western boundaries in September of 1814. Ross had a military background spanning 30 years and had served in the Napoleonic Wars.

As the Aisquith Company positioned itself on the North Point Peninsula, an area fortified a year earlier in fear of an impending British invasion, General Ross, noticing the American positions, found refuge on the local farm of Robert Gorsuch. Here he had breakfast cooked for him while waiting for the rest of his army to arrive. Brigadier General John Stricker, in charge of the 3,000 plus soldiers advancing the British land assault, ordered a group of 230 men with one cannon to flush General Ross out of the Gorsuch farm. Wells and McComas were a part of this small brigade, their defining moment arriving swiftly.

Riding on a white horse (or a black horse, depending on the source), General Ross was shot in the battle, mortally wounded by the American Militia. Daniel Wells and Henry G. McComas have been given equal credit for the historical deed, each sacrificing their life in the progress. Another American soldier was shot at the scene, 24 year-old Aquila Randall, credited with being the first United States fatality of the Battle of North Point, was found near the bodies Wells and McComas, all three had fired their weapons.

Noted local poet and Baltimore historian Christopher T. George has shed light on the possibility a sniper, and not Wells and McComas, killed General Ross at the Battle of North Point. As a reference George cites a passage in the book The British Invasion of Maryland, 1812-1815 by William Matthew Marine. The volume contains a conversation between an American, Henry Wilson, and an English gentleman claiming to have been General Ross’s aide de campe at the Battle of North Point. The British soldier reports that Ross’s mortal wound was “caused by a musket ball and a buck-shot”, his testimony running counter to the notion the wound was caused by musket ball only. The Independent Blues militia of the 5th Regiment used this modified method, loading ‘buck and ball‘, for their weapons. George also wrote that: “the unit’s commander, Capt. Aaron R. Levering [of Independent Blues], is alleged to have seen an officer ride up at the head of the enemy line. He is deported to have ordered his men, ‘Take good aim, there’s an officer.’ The militiamen saw the British officer fall from his horse and from the description of his uniform it was thought that it was Ross.”

Notes

In 1854, a committee gathered with the notion of erecting a monument to Wells and McComas. On September 10, 1858, after securing and investing the funds for the project, the bodies of the teen militiamen were exhumed and placed in the Maryland Institute. Thousands of people visited the coffins during the three days leading up to September 12th, the anniversary of the Battle of North Point, when the official cornerstone for the memorial was laid. On that day, the bodies of Wells and McComas were paraded to Ashland Square, the site of interment, and placed below the obelisk’s foundation in ceremonial fashion. The 21-foot monument was finally completed in 1873 and is made of Baltimore County marble. The Obelisk portion, resting on a two-step granite pedestal is comprised of two large pieces of marble, weighing 14 and 8 tons respectively.

Nearby

• Fallsway Fountain
• Engine House No. 6

Links

• On Panoramio [2] & Flickr
• Defender’s Day at North Point website
• MyEdgemere.com