Four Union soldiers cast in bronze charge forward here on the Court of Honor, John S. Conway's The Victorious Charge on West Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Milwaukee. This 1898 bronze sculpture rises 9'10" high and sits on a 20' square granite pedestal. You can step close and take in Conway's dramatic telling: four Union soldiers cast in bronze are caught in action, moving forward to victory.
One has fallen and supports himself on his left arm while grasping a piece of the flag staff in his right hand. A young private holds the flag high while stepping over the dying soldier. An officer, pistol in one hand and a drawn sword in the other, continues forward, while another private leans forward holding a bayonet.
The monument is described as the most important nineteenth century Civil War monument in Wisconsin. On the base the front reads: TO. THOSE.
WHO. FOUGHT. IN.
THE. WAR. FOR.
THE. UNION. 1861-1865ERECTED.1898.
The front lower left side reads JOHN S. CONWAY SCULPTOR and the back lower right reads FOND CRESCENZI ROMA 1898. Before The Victorious Charge, the standard for Civil War monuments was an idealized portrait of a soldier. Notice the Court of Honor stretching along West Wisconsin Avenue beyond the monument.