Do we have time for one last monument trivia question before the students return to class? Seems like it's a little late in the summer for fun stuff like trivia questions — if you're in the situation I'm in, it's approaching full-on panic time. Or, to use an emoticon, I'm approaching –°– . Yet, perhaps we can do one last trivia question. Any guesses on the identity and location of the statue. The only hint this time is that it's of a Northern general during the Civil War.
Name That Monument
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I would have given up on this one…but he happens to be one of the 5 or 6 union generals I've heard of (that is, solely by name recognition–e.g., Custer, Grant, Sherman). So this turned up for me with a google images search of "general [name] monument".
B! You're good. Very good. Want to fill everyone else in on who this is — and where it is? I'm glad, I must say, that my questions are getting tougher.
The name of the statue is "Major General George B. McClellan" and it's in D.C.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_General_George_B._McClellan
Even without the hint, it looks like a northern uniform and it's not likely to be anything less than a general. My neural contamination by Google is now complete.
George Thomas, right? Thomas Circle in D.C. This is just an immediate reaction on seeing the photo, based on, I guess, having walked past it XX times over the last 39 years…I haven't clicked around to research or confirm it….
B's got it — and he's convinced me that the computers are about to take over. The wikipedia photo B links to is much better than mine; I was there one morning and the light wasn't good.
David–it does look like the Thomas statue, doesn't it — they're both in DC. The McClellan statue is outside the Hylton near DuPont Circle. This is a good reminder that a lot of times the artists used standard models for Civil War era statues:
http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2010/03/virginia-monuments-on-the-road-from-williamsburg-to-chapel-hill.html
Apologies! Google shows that McClellan's at Connecticut and California, and I lived for a time on Wyoming between 18th & 19th (Wyoming's one block north of California), so I've certainly walked by this one dozens of times too… Sorry!
DC is wonderful with it's Civil War monuments. It leaves no doubt about who won the war. I enjoy the righteousness of the environment whenever I am there,
Excellent point, Bill — I need to post a few more Civil War monuments from DC.
It's interesting that McClellan got a monument. Maybe monuments in that era are today's equivalent of medals. My recollection is that there were more medals given out for the Grenada "rescue" mission, than there were people on the ground in Grenada.