PARK AND 
CEMETERY. 
149 
One of the most pretentious of these small areas is 
Sherman Plaza, the site of the Sherman monument, 
the most imposing and the newest of Washington’s 
famous equestrian statues. These grounds are in the 
northeast corner of the President’s Park, immediately 
south of the Treasury Building. The space about the 
statue is parked and planted, and a series of walks 
and paved spaces of different areas surrounding it 
give views from any point, and at any distances. 
The monument is the most elaborate of the many 
famous statues in Washington. The stately figure of 
Sherman on his horse stands 52 feet high on a pedes- 
tal of Woodbury granite, which rises from a base 58 
feet wide. There are six other pieces of sculpture 
in bronze — two allegorical figures representing Peace 
and War on either side of the pedestal, and four stat- 
ues of soldiers, one at each corner of the base, repre- 
senting respectively, the infantry, cavalry, artillery 
and engineers. In addition there are on the four faces 
of the pedestal bas-relief scenes from Sherman’s mil- 
itary career and medallion portraits of his staff offi- 
cers. 
The story gf the making of the monument is an 
interesting one. The commission was awarded the 
Danish-American sculptor Carl Rohl-Smith in 1896, 
and upon his death in 1900, his widow contracted with 
other sculptors to carry out his conception. Lauritz 
Jensen of Copenhagen finished the statue, put the final 
touches on the bas-reliefs and made the badge of the 
Army of the Tennessee. Sigvald Asbjornsen of Chi- 
cago completed the last of the four soldiers, three of 
them and the surmounting group, having been nearly 
completed by Mr. Rohl-Smith before his death. Mrs. 
Theo. Ruggles-Kitson of Boston made the four dou- 
ble medallions. Stephan Binding started the groups 
of War and Peace in Denmark with the understand- 
ing that he was to complete them in this country. He 
fell ill, however, and sent Carl J. Bonnesen in his 
stead. Bonnesen did the group Peace, and then re- 
turned to Deimiark, leaving Sigvald Asbjornsen to 
complete the last group. War. The work was finally 
completed and unveiled in 1903 at a cost of $96,000. 
The bronze work was cast by the Gorham Co. of 
New York, and the Harrison Granite Co. of New 
York were the contractors for the pedestal. When 
the construction of the foundation was begun, it was 
discovered that the ground was so marshy as to re- 
quire the driving of many 35-foot piles, so that the 
entire foundation extends farther below the ground 
than the monument does above it. 
Planting Plan of 
Sherman Plaza. 
The planting scheme 
for the plaza, as indi- 
cated by the numbers 
on the accompanying 
plan, is as follows : 
I, 2, 12, 13, Hydrangea 
paniculata grandiflora ; 3, 
4, 9, 10, Berberis purpurea ; 
5 , 8, Tsuga canadensis; 6, 
7, Berberis Thunbergii ; ii, 
14. 54. 55, 56, 57 58, 65, 66, 
67, 68, 69. Picea alba; 15, 
22, 29, 36, Thuja vervxani ; 
16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 31, 37, 
38, Retinispora pisifera au- 
rea ; 18, 19, 32, 33, Cornus 
florida rubra ; 20, 21, 34, 
35, Hibiscus syriacus; 25, 
26, 39, 40, Cercidiphyllum 
Japonicum ; 27, 28, 41, 42, 
Corylus purpurea; 43, Acer 
rubrum; 70, 71, Ulmus 
Americana; 44, 61, Cercis 
Japonica; 45, 62, Rosa 
rugosa; 46, 52, 53, Spiraea 
Thunbergii ; 47, 48, 49, 50, 
51, Picea excelsa; 59, 63, 
Weigela amabilis ; 60, Loni- 
cera ; 64 Acer saccharum. 
DESIGN AND PLANTING PLAN OF SHERM.VN PLAZA, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
