Our Heroes: Civil War Monument

Our Heroes: Civil War Monument, 1869-70

Leonard Wells Volk

Rosehill Cemetery

East central section

5800 North Ravenswood Avenue

            A Union standard bearer, holding a flag in his left hand and bugle in his right, is depicted in marble and stands atop a 30-foot tall square limestone shaft. The monument is dedicated to Union soldiers who died in the Civil War and 230 veterans are buried in large plots east of this site.  

          The four bronze plaques at the base show members of the four branches of the military: Union cavalry, infantry, artillery and naval units. The artist, Leonard Volk, is buried in this cemetery as well and is best known for his plaster casts of Abraham Lincoln’s face and hands, made in 1860 and used by many other sculptors, such as Augustus Saint-Gaudens, in their own portrayals of the 16^th President.

Volunteer Fire Fighters’ Monument

Volunteer Fire Fighters’ Monument, 1864

Leonard Wells Volk

Rosehill Cemetery

East central section

5800 North Ravenswood Avenue

            Rosehill Cemetery was chartered in 1859 and is the oldest and largest (with 350 acres) non-sectarian cemetery in Chicago. It features the graves of more than twelve of the city’s former mayors, four Illinois governors and twelve Civil War generals. This monument was erected by the Firemen’s Benevolent Association six years after the city disbanded the volunteer companies and established a paid fire department in 1858. It marks the grave of 15 firefighters and was refurbished in 1979, including a new granite marker with a list of their names.

            The sculptor, Leonard W. Volk, set up a studio on Clark Street in 1858 and was responsible for two additional tall memorial shafts in Chicago, the Stephen A. Douglas Tomb and Memorial on the South Side and another in Rosehill Cemetery, the Civil War Monument known as Our Heroes. Volk is buried here as well, in the southeast section, and his monument shows him as if he is an old man resting during a walk in the country.

            A marble fireman holding a megaphone stands atop a Doric fluted column that emerges from a drum that takes the form of a coiled fire hose. The four corners of the base feature limestone replicas of wooden fire pumps topped with firemen’s hats. Three of the relief panels below the coiled hose depict hand-pumped fire engines and the fourth, badly damaged, shows a fire-fighting scene. 

Stephen A. Douglas Tomb and Memorial

Stephen A. Douglas Tomb and Memorial, 1881

Leonard Wells Volk

Douglas Tomb State Memorial Park

636 East 35^th Street

            Stephen A. Douglas (1813-1861) was born in Vermont but moved to southern Illinois in 1833 and soon became a leader of the Democratic Party. He was small in stature, only 5 feet 5 inches tall, but his large head and imposing shoulders contributed to his nickname “the Little Giant,” in addition to his staunch defense of Andrew Jackson while serving as a U.S. Representative. Douglas may be best known, on a national level, for a series of debates with Abraham Lincoln that were dominated by the issue of slavery held during Douglas’ bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate in 1858 and again in 1861 when the Democrats were soundly defeated in the presidential election. When the secession of southern states occurred, Douglas, at Lincoln’s request, toured the border states seeking support for the Union. His health had been failing and he died in Chicago, shortly after completing the trip, on June 3, 1861.

            Plans for his memorial were in the works shortly after his death but the designs were lost in the Chicago Fire of 1871 and there were problems raising sufficient funds. Douglas’ remains are contained in a Vermont marble sarcophagus topped with a bust. Four plinths at each corner of the mausoleum hold idealized allegorical female forms representing “Illinois,” “History,” “Justice” and “Eloquence.” Additionally, there are four bronze panels on the base depicting the “advancement of European civilization in America,” which is fitting due to Douglas’ strong support of western expansion.

            Atop the mausoleum is a 46-foot-tall granite column that holds a 9-foot 9-inch bronze portrait of Douglas, rendered in a realistic manner with his waistcoat pulling at its buttons and his hair somewhat disheveled. This style of monument was a logical choice for Leonard W. Volk (1828-1895), who trained as a stonemason in St. Louis and then studied in Rome, where he came into contact with ancient monuments such as Trajan’s Column. Volk was related to Douglas by marriage (his wife was Douglas’ cousin) and the politician sponsored Volk’s education in Rome and the opening of his studio in Chicago in 1857. The artist’s most lasting impact, however, came from the plaster casts he made of Abraham Lincoln’s face and hands in 1860, which were used by nearly every sculptor who has made his portrait. The original casts are housed in the Smithsonian Institution.