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 Interactive map of North Carolina Monument | |
| Location | Seminary Ridge,Gettysburg National Military Park |
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| Beginning date | 1928 (1928) |
| Completion date | July 3, 1929 |
TheNorth Carolina Monument is aNorth Carolina memorial of the American Civil War commemorating the 32 Carolina regiments in action at theBattle of Gettysburg.[1] The monument is a public artwork byAmerican sculptorGutzon Borglum located onSeminary Ridge, West Confederate Avenue,[2] in theGettysburg National Military Park.
Surrounded bydogwood trees (the North Carolinastate flower), the monument features figures ofNorth Carolinainfantrymen advancing duringPickett's Charge, where fifteen infantry regiments from North Carolina participated and suffered heavy casualties.[3] One man kneels injured on the ground, pointing towards the enemy with his proper left hand while two men wield guns and look forward. A fourth man holds a flag in both hands as he glances forward. The sculpture is signed "Gutzon Borglum 1929 (illegible) AKUNST FDY NYC". The back of the base is inscribed: "NORTH CAROLINA".
A 1913North Carolinacommission ofCivil War veterans presented a monument proposal after visiting theGettysburg Battlefield,[citation needed] and afterWorld War I, the North CarolinaUnited Daughters of the Confederacy and GovernorAngus McLean continued the planning in 1927. with a commission visiting the battlefield on September 28, 1926.[4]: '27 North Carolina appropriated $50,000[when?] to purchase and landscape the site and to commission Gutzon Borglum, who was approached while working onMount Rushmore.[1] Borglum designed the monument in Texas[2] and posed theConfederate flag designer (Orren Smith) as the flag bearer,[5] while the other soldiers were sculpted from photographs of posedConfederate soldiers. Postponed from May 1929,[3] the US Navy and 6th Field Artillery bands played at the monument's dedicationon July 3, 1929.[4] By 1949, a glass-faced display at the site,[5] and a wooden marker for the site was cut down by vandals in 1954.[6] President Kennedy left his car to visit the monument in April 1963[7] prior to the rededication on the 100th anniversary. After a 1985 restoration required lifting by helicopter[8] for shipment to Cincinnati,[9] a fence was added in 1993;[6] and after the 1995Smithsonian'sSave Outdoor Sculpture! survey reported the sculpture needed treatment,[2] the monument was rehabilitated in 1999.[6]
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 1929 dedication |
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)[clarification needed]39°49′06″N77°14′50″W / 39.81833°N 77.247258°W /39.81833; -77.247258