Lincoln Stuff at Auction

From the January 30, 2022, Chicago Tribune advertisement of Heritage Auctions.

Americana & Political Auction:  February 12-13, 2022

**  Handwritten letter from Abraham Lincoln to the Army of the Potomac after the Union disaster at the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Opening bid: $250,000.

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**  Abraham Lincoln:  His personal example of his iconic portrait bust by Leonard Volk, presented to him by the sculptor himself.

Opening bid:  $100,000.

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**  Abraham Lincoln Assassination John Wilkes Booth:  $100,000 Reward Poster issued by the U.S. War Department, April 20, 1865.

Opening bid:  $40,000.

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**  Abraham Lincoln:  Exquisite Pocket Knife Presented to the President at the 1864 Philadelphia Sanitary Fair.

Opening bid:  $120,000.

Get Yer Lincoln Stuff Here.  --Old Secesh

John Quincy Adams Ward-- Part 2: Some of His Civil War Statues

These are some of the statues he made regarding Civil War personage:

1869  Seventh New York Regiment Memorial in Central Park, N.Y.

1871  General John F. Reynolds Statue in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

1878  William Gillmore Simms statue in Charleston, S.C.

1879  General George Henry Thomas , Washington, D.C.

1887  James A. Garfield Monument in Washington, D.C.

1891  Henry Ward Beecher Monument in Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn, N.Y.

1898  Equestrian statue of Gen. Winfield S. Hancock at the Smith Memorial Arch in Philadelphia, Pa.

1910  Financier August Belmont, Newport, R.I.

1916  Gen. Philip Sheridan statue in Albany, N.Y.  completed posthumously.

--Old Secesh

John Quincy Adams Ward-- Part 1: the Man Who Made the Sheridan Statue at Albany

From Wikipedia.

(June 29, 1830-May 1, 1910)

American sculptor whose most-known work is the larger-than-life-size standing statue of George Washington on the steps of the Federal Hall National Memorial in New York City.

Born in Urbana, Ohio, founded by his paternal grandfather, Col. William Ward, an American Revolution officer.  After training as a sculptor in Brooklyn, N.Y., , he went to Washington, D.C., in 1857, where he made a name for himself doing busts of prominent men. 

In 1861, he worked for the Ames Manufacturing Company  in Massachusetts  where he made models for projects, including  gilt-bronze sword hilts for Union officers.  Ames was one of the largest bronze, brass and iron  foundries in the United States at that time.

He set up a studio in New York City and pushed for an American School of Sculpture and became one of the preeminent sculptors of his generation.

--Old Secesh

Confederate Defenders of Charleston Monument-- Part 2: Dedicating the Monument in 1932

The monument is topped by two figures, that of a woman representing Charleston and a young man representing the Confederate defenders.  The young muscular man is wearing nothing but a strategically placed fig leaf.

On October 20, 1932, some 8,000 people gathered for the statue's dedication in White Point Gardens, the Battery, for the Confederate defenders of Fort Sumter.  Many of those present had fathers, uncles and  grandfathers who fought  in what many still called "The Confederate War."

The statue's sculptor, Hermon A. McNeill, said of the monuments:  "The motif in brief, is that of a stalwart youth, standing in front with sword and shield symbolizes by his attitude the defense not only of the fort, but also of the fair city behind the fort in which are his most prized possessions, wife and family.

"And she, the wife,  glorified into an Athena-like woman, unafraid, stands behind him with arms outstretched toward the fort, this creating an inseparable  union of the city and Fort Sumter."

--Old secesh

Death of Gen. Philip Sheridan in 1888-- Part 4

Sheridan's body was returned to Washington, D.C., and he was buried on a hillside facing the city near Arlington House in Arlington National Cemetery.

The sculpture for him was designed by English sculptor Samuel James Kitson.  His burial at the cemetery helped elevate Arlington National Cemetery to national prominence.

His wife Irene never remarried, saying, "I would rather be the widow of Phil Sheridan than the wife of any man living."

She died February 24, 1928, the last living wife of any of the major Union generals (of course, she was born in 1856, before marrying the much older Sheridan in 1875).  She is buried next to her beloved husband in Section E.2, Site S-1.

--Old Secesh