Soldiers and Sailors Monument

The Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Monument is a neoclassical monument built on Monument Circle, a circular, brick-paved street that intersects Meridian and Market streets in the center of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. In the years since its public dedication on May 15, 1902, the monument has become an iconic symbol of Indianapolis. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 13, 1973 and was included in an expansion of the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza National Historic Landmark District in December 2016. It is located in the Washington Street-Monument Circle Historic District. It is also the largest outdoor memorial in Indiana.

The monument was designed by German architect Bruno Schmitz and built over a 13-year period, between 1888 and 1901. The monument’s original purpose was to honor Hoosiers who were veterans of the American Civil War; however, it is also a tribute to Indiana’s soldiers and sailors who served during the American Revolutionary War, territorial conflicts that partially led to the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, and the Spanish–American War. The monument is the first in the United States to be dedicated to the common soldier.

The monument includes several notable figurative sculptures, including Rudolph Schwarz‘s two massive limestone groupings representing War and Peace, two smaller scenes named The Dying Soldier and The Return Home, and four military figures at its base representing the artillery, cavalry, infantry, and navy. Three bronze astragals, one by Nikolaus (Nicolaus) Geiger and two others by George T. Brewster, surround the stone obelisk. Additional sculptures in the plaza include John H. Mahoney’s three bronze statues of former Indiana governors George Rogers Clark, William Henry Harrison, and James Whitcomb, as well as Franklin Simmons‘s bronze statue of former Indiana governor Oliver P. Morton, which had occupied the site before the monument was built. Brewster’s 30-foot (9.1 m) bronze statue of Victory (also known as Liberty) crowns the obelisk. The Indianapolis monument is approximately 15 feet (4.6 m) shorter than New York City’s 305-foot (93 m) Statue of Liberty.

Most of the monument is built from Indiana limestone.  There is an observation deck on the top of the central obelisk accessible via an elevator, and at the base of the obelisk is the Col. Eli Lilly Civil War Museum.