The Emergence of the Soldier Monument

This chapter connects the proliferation of public monuments after the Civil War to the number and circumstances of wartime deaths. Because the remains of many fallen soldiers did not return home, monuments served as cenotaphs, especially in Memorial Day rituals. Some communities and institutions chose to commission memorial halls rather than monuments. These buildings, often schools or public libraries, strengthened educational institutions that situated voluntary military service within a broader ideal of engaged and informed citizenship. The soldier statue nevertheless became the dominant memorial form. Many soldier statues reflected a sentimental culture that mourned private, familial losses rather than honoring public service, though some monuments instead illustrated the hardening of the class order in the Gilded Age.