Sheridan

Statue of the Union Army's General Philip Sheridan on Sheridan Circle at the foot of Embassy Row.

Last weekend found me on Embassy Row, killing time before an 8:30 a.m. appointment on 19th Street. I stopped at Sheridan Circle and took a few pictures of this statue of the circle's namesake, General Philip Sheridan. Sheridan was, along with William "Tecumseh" Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant, one of the Union Army's heroes during the Civil War. (I'm reading Confederates in the Attic right now and, in the last few pages alone, have learned no less than six different names for this conflict that pitted brother against brother in the North and the South during the 1860s.)

While this type of monument--soldier/ historical figure/ explorer-on-horse--hasn't been erected in Washington in recent memory, the city is littered with these sculptures in many of the parks and most of the traffic circles. The majority of them date back to the early 20th century and the latter part of the 19th century.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 11/07.