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| The south face of the Monument: three sailors prepared for war |
Monument Square was the
the focal point of my “rediscovering Portland” adventure. It was just past noon,
and Monument Square was unusually quiet. I was expecting the hustle and bustle
of lunchtime foot traffic, perhaps a protest, or some sidewalk tunes, but instead
I found a young couple enjoying each other’s company on a nearby bench. It in
the center of the square stood the giant, unnamed statue, looming over me (with
an emerging sense of shame that I had cared so little as a kid about Portland’s
defining landmarks). It was clean, and appeared well cared for, as a plastic
fence was appropriated to keep kids from playing on it, or protect it from
careless snow removal?
The first thing that
struck me about the statue was the large, silver letters on the west façade:
“PORTLAND/ FOR HER SONS THAT DIED FOR THE UNION.” Miles ahead of my eight year
old, swimming-lesson-anxious self, I realized that towering, granite, nameless
monument celebrated Portland’s contributions in the Civil War.
On the south façade, stood
three uniformed sailors, one held a gun while the others others sported
nautical garb. On the north façade, stood three soldiers in uniform with their
weapons at ease. In case I had any doubt about the monument’s relevance to the
Civil War, the east façade was decorated with a plaque. In easy-to-read
lettering it read: “1861-1865 Over 4,000 men were enrolled from Portland in the
Army and Navy for the war of rebellion. more than 300 were killed in battle or
died in service. Honor and grateful remembrance to the dead, and equal honor to
those, who daring to die, survived.” I got chills [insert cheese] reading the
backside of the monument, realizing that Portland’s contributions to the Civil
War were tangible. Other than the illustrious Chamberlain, I had never thought
about Maine’s involvement in the Civil War, nevertheless Portland’s. Aside from
the practicality of numerical information, this description incredibly titles
the Civil war: the war of rebellion, displaying a very northern paternalistic
attitude—and genius linguistic skills. The last phrase is also reverently
written to support the survivors in addition to those lost because of the war.
After returning home, I
made two invaluable discoveries: 1) googling Maine civil war monuments is
asking for it—there are apparently many civil war monuments in the state of
Maine and 2) the statue has not one, but two names: Our Lady of Victories and/or
The Soldiers and Sailors Monument.
The statue was designed
and constructed by Maine’s own Franklin Simmons and New York’s Richard Hunt.
Simmons created the bronze sculptures of the solders, sailors, and Our Lady of Victories, while Hunt designed the granite base. To represent the culmination of war efforts, Simmons adopted the Roman goddess of war and wisdom, Minerva. He topped his soldiers and sailors sculptures with a war goddess of his own. The statue was installed from
1889 and was completed by 1891. Formerly known as Market St. Square, the home
of the new monument, fittingly came to be called Monument Square. In 1899, the
old City Hall was torn down in Monument Sq. to allow more space for foot
traffic. Monument Square has since become a historical and cultural centerpiece for the city of Portland.
Sources:
http://www.pressherald.com/archive/walking-the-historic-district_2009-06-26.html
http://www.maine.gov/civilwar/monuments/portlandmonument.html
http://www.mainememory.net/artifact/16498
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