Detroit's grandest Civil War memorial rises in bronze and granite in front of you. The Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, dedicated in 1872 and designed by Randolph Rogers, rises in tiers of bronze and granite at the edge of Campus Martius. At its summit stands Michigania, a crowned female figure of the state, sword in one hand, shield in the other; below her, four bronze figures represent the army, navy, cavalry, and artillery, and lower still, allegories of victory and emancipation.
Michigan sent some ninety thousand men to fight for the Union, and the monument was raised by public subscription to honor the dead among them. It stood at the heart of the city's parades and gatherings for generations, and when Campus Martius was rebuilt in the early 2000s, the entire monument was carefully moved and restored. Walk around its base and study the four soldiers facing outward, and the eagle-topped columns, a city's grief and pride cast permanently in bronze.