Monumental cousin

As mentioned in our post on the soldier's monument in Coldwater, statues were available as a product of mass production.  As example of this can be seen in the cemetery on the outskirts of Middlebury, Indiana.

Standing watch over Civil War soldiers buried with government markers

As our readers will note, the plinth our soldier is standing on is much simpler and shorter than the one in Coldwater. Perhaps this is befitting a small and relatively rural community as opposed to a small city.

The flag, forever flying in stone

Right Face

Left Face

As one can see, the inscriptions on the plinth are much simpler than that of the monument in Coldwater. It should be noted that the statue itself appears to be a cousin to the Coldwater statue, not the twin. There are a few details that are different. The pose is the same, as is the musket he is holding. The bayonet scabbard does not look quite as lifelike to the one I carry when fighting as infantry. This could simply be a variation in the casting of the concrete statues.

Detail of front

Detail of rear

The largest difference between the two statues actually appears on the rear. If one studies the Coldwater statue, the waist belt can be seen under the cape of the greatcoat.  What isn't seen there, but is quite visible in the statue here in Middlebury, is the cartridge box for his ammunition.  Apparently the townsfolk of Middlebury felt that the honored dead should be defended with hot lead in addition to the cold steel.

As noted, these statues were once mass produced. It is the individual variations that make the statues themselves interesting, as well as the plinth they are mounted on.  The plinths were of a greater degree custom work to the installation itself.

I believe I know of at least one more of these statues local to myself.  I will endeavor to get photographs of that one and it's plinth for comparison sake.

-Corporal

Our post on the soldier's monument in Coldwater, MI can be found here: https://bplreenacter.blogspot.com/2018/01/coldwater-soldiers-monument.html