Brownstone towers and a Gothic arch mark the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Bushnell Park. This is the monument that honors the 4,000 Hartford citizens who served in the American Civil War, including the 400 who died for the Union cause. It is notable as the first permanent memorial arch to be built in America.
Its story begins here on October 21, 1879, when a committee formed to sponsor a competition held in 1881; that committee declined to approve any of the winning schemes and in 1884 awarded the commission to the Hartford-based architect George Keller. Keller produced an eclectic design: two Norman towers flank a Gothic arch, decorated with a classical frieze and embellished with statues modeled by the Swiss-born sculptor Albert Entress (1846–1926). The arch was built of brownstone from Portland, Connecticut, completed in 1886 at a cost of about $60,000 and dedicated on September 17, 1886.
Look closely at the north frieze by Samuel James Kitson, which shows, on the right, General Ulysses S. Grant surveying his troops and, on the left, marines leaping from a boat to rush Confederate troops; the south frieze by Caspar Buberl tells a story of peace. Find General Grant surveying his troops on the north frieze, and peace on the south.