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Services of the Union in the Civil War (Navy) by Caspar Buberl
Photo CreditPhoto courtesy of McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc.
Services of the Union in the Civil War (Navy)
Photo CreditPhoto courtesy of McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc.

Services of the Union in the Civil War (Navy)

Artist
Year1883
Classification sculpture
Medium plaster
DimensionsH3'6-1/8"xW 8'2-1/4
Location

  • This sculpted image of seven men rowing a small wooden boat commemorates the importance of the Union Navy in winning the Civil War.  While undergoing a period of great technical and institutional transformation, the Union Navy not only engaged in battle with the Confederate Navy, but also maintained numerous blockades surrounding Southern ports, cutting off critical supply routes.  The sailors depicted here are not meant to represent any specific event or individuals, but rather to symbolize the countless men integral to the success of the Union Navy.

    Constructed between 1882 and 1887, the Pension Building provided much needed space for the U.S. Pension Bureau following the Civil War.  Supervising architect-engineer General Montgomery Meigs envisioned a building adorned with a classically inspired monumental frieze, depicting the men who served, suffered, and sacrificed on behalf of the Union in the Civil War.  In order to make this enormous frieze economically feasible, Meigs commissioned artist Caspar Buberl to carve six interchangeable panels, which were then duplicated by the Boston Terra Cotta Company to wrap the 1,200 foot long facade.  The plaster casts seen here were taken from Buberl’s original sculpted clay panels, and were utilized during construction as the benchmarks against which to check the many terra cotta copies arriving on site.