BGuthrie Photos: VA -- Yorktown Victory Monument (Colonial NHP)

VA -- Yorktown Victory Monument (Colonial NHP):

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Description of Subject Matter: Yorktown Victory Monument

On October 24, 1781, Lt. Col. Tench Tilghman, Washington's aide-de-camp, reached Philadelphia and the Continental Congress with the "glorious" news of the surrender of Cornwallis' army at Yorktown, on October 19th. On Monday, October 29, Congress officially recognized this great victory and by resolution directed:

That the United States in Congress assembled, will cause to be erected at york, in Virginia, a marble column, adorned with emblems of the alliance between the United States and his Most Christian Majesty; and inscribed with a succinct narrative of the surrender of earl Cornwallis to his excellency General Washington, Commander in Chief of the combined forces of America and France; to his excellency the Count de Rochambeau, commanding the auxilliary troops of his most Christian Majesty in America, and his excellency the Count de Grasse, commanding in chief the naval army of France in the Chesapeake.

However, no action towards actually building this monument was taken for a century though the congressional resolution was not forgotten. In 1834 the citizens of Yorktown had asked Congress that the monument be erected as specified in 1781 since, as the Congressional committee report indicated, it would emphasize "an event that terminated the struggle of our fathers for liberty and independence" and that "no event in our history is more worthy of commemoration than that which crowned the American revolution with success and triumph." The resulting bill anticipated the purchase of grounds and "a railing" around them.

There was no follow up in 1834, however, nor in 1836 when the proposal was again active. When in 1876 a memorial from the Common Council of Fredericksburg, Virginia, was before Congress, the desirability of the project was recognized.

The Committee of Public Buildings and Grounds nonetheless, felt that it needed to be postponed "...considering the financial condition of the country, and the fact that Congress, at the present session, has assumed the completion of the Washington National Monument..." A memorial from the City of Boston in 1876 suffered the same indecisive fate. The Centennial of Yorktown, however, was approaching and this became instrumental in generating the necessary interest.

The matter of implementing the basic authority was raised in 1875 by Historian George Bancroft, in a letter to the Mayor of Newport, Rhode Island, in June of that year, pointed out that in 1781 "Congress [had] pledged to the victorious army, to France, to America, to the world, that the nation should build at Yorktown a monument of marble, with the emblems of the great alliance, to keep fresh in memory the all decisive successes that had been achieved." The letter and various memorial, although ineffective immediately, were part of the initial move that led to the erection of the monument. A study group was authorized by Congress in 1879 and positive action came a year later as the citizens of Chicago, the legislature of North Carolina and others added their voices to the increasing public swell.

The cornerstone of the monument was laid by "the order of the Ancient Free and accepted Masons" on October 18, 1881, "as the appropriate opening" for the Yorktown Centennial Celebration. Congress, on June 7, 1880, had passed an act "to carry into effect the resolution" of 1781. At the same time it had appropriated money for this purpose, authorized a commission to carry the responsibility, including the selection of a site, and provided for the celebration to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Yorktown victory.

The 1880 act reiterated the earlier resolution and stipulated that as much as $100,000 could be expended under the direction of the Secretary of War "in erecting at Yorktown, in Virginia, the monument referred to in the aforesaid resolution of Congress." In the section of the act that provided for the appointment of a commission "to recommend a suitable design," it was specified that it should contain "emblems of the alliance" between France and America and "a succinct narrative" of Cornwallis' surrender. The design was to be subject to the approval of a committee of thirteen Representatives and thirteen Senators. The artists commissioned for the purpose by the Secretary of War were Mr. R.M. Hunt (Chairman) and Mr. J.Q.A. Ward (Architect) of New York and Mr. Henry Van Brunt (Sculptor) of Boston.

The Monument was duly erected, using Hallowell Maine granite in its shaft, according to the design of the commissioned artists who followed the directions relative to emblems, inscriptions and symbols. A first phase had been a model completed in December 1880. Architecturally it was planned and constructed in three parts with a base ('with its stylobate and its pediments"), a sculptured podium (in the form of a drum), and a column. The whole "is intended to convey, in architectural language, the idea, set forth in the dedicatory inscription, that, by the victory at Yorktown, the independence of the United States of America was achieved, or brought to final accomplishment."

In design it embodied the symbolic theme originally specified by Congress in 1781 and repeated in 1880. This is described in the official report and can be summarized in the outline as given below:

I. The base carries an inscription on each of its four sides:

A. One dedicates the monument as a memorial of victory.
B. A second presents a succinct narrative of the Siege.
C. A third commemorares the treaty of alliance with France.
D. The fourth tells of the resulting treaty of peace with England.

II. The pediments just over the inscriptions carry:

A. Emblems of nationality.
B. Emblems of war.
C. Emblems of the alliance.
D. Emblems of peace.

"The base is thus devoted to the historical statement."

III. The podium is a "symbol of the birth of freedom."

It carries the sculptur of thirteen "female figures" hand in hand in a solemn dance to denote the unity of the thirteen colonies. Beneath their feet is the inscription "One country, one constitution, one destiny."

IV. The column which springs from the podium, is a "symbol of the greatness and prosperity of the nation after a century of various experience, when thirty-eight free and independent states are shining together in a mighty constellation." There is a star for each state which was in the Union at the time the monument was designed. On the field of the shaft and among the stars, as reminder of the past, is the "shield of Yorktown covering the branch of peace."

V. Atop the shaft is the sculptured figure of "Liberty herself" -- attesting to the existence of the nation as "a proof of the possibility of a government of the people, by the people, for the people."

The monument was begun in 1881, the crowning figure set on August 12, 1884, and it was officially reported as complete, with a 12 foot wide granite pavement around it, all enclosed by a simple iron fence "to keep meddlesome people at a distance," by Lt. Col. William P. Craighill, Corps of U.S. Engineers, in a communication, dated January 5, 1885, to the Secretary of War. This in turn was transmitted to Congress. It was not until June 1890 that the Monument was officially inspected by a designated group who reported on the work that had been consummated. A special edition of a report on the construction of the Monument was authorized by a concurrant resolution of Congress in 1892. Of the specified five thousand copies, some two thousand, bound "in full leather," were to be earmarked for distribution to descendents of the French who fought at Yorktown. Lt. Col. William P. Craighill of the Army Engineers wrote in his completion report that:

The monument at Yorktown having been completed, it seems necessary to make provision for the accommodation of a watchman, as the location is isolated, and without some oversight this beautiful structure would soon be marred by relic hunters and other mischievous or inconsiderate persons.

For some time an enlisted man from the army was detailed as "keeper of the monument" but measures to secure a regular position for a watchman together with a keeper's house were not successful.

The present monument in its origin, in its design, and in its associations, is symbolic of the great victory which was achieved at Yorktown through the French-American alliance. Today, complete with its "emblems" and "inscriptions," as specified by the Congress in 1781 and again in 1880, it still stands after a century occupying a vantage point in Yorktown. It is "within the line of defense of Cornwallis" and, with its grounds, covers four original Yorktown lots, numbers 80-83. Some 98 feet high, it overlooks the wide harbor of the York River, from which it is visible, and forms a part of the familiar scene that is remembered by the many thousands who have seen it in the passing years. In this long span it has stood undisturbed and unchanged except for the severe damage to the figure of "Liberty" that came during an electrical storm on July 29, 1942.

Because of lightning damage, it was necessary to replace "Liberty" and a commission for the new figure was given to Sculptor Oskar J.W. Hansen. The completed work was placed in 1956. At the same time lightning protection was added to the shaft which was thoroughly cleaned and repointed. This work on the Monument to the Alliance and Victory was completed in time for the annual Yorktown day exercise in 1957.

In 1990, "Liberty" was again struck by lightning, suffering damage to the figure's hands and torso. Repairs were made that same year and the lightning rod system was upgraded.

Today the monument still stands as a fitting symbol to the French and American victory at Yorktown on October 19, 1781 - a victory that resulted in American Independence.

The above was from https://www.nps.gov/york/learn/historyculture/vicmon.htm
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