Sedgwick Monument is a memorial to Union General

John Sedgwick John Sedgwick (September 13, 1813 – May 9, 1864) was an American military officer who served as a Union Army general during the American Civil War. He was wounded three times at the Battle of Antietam while leading his division in an unsucces ...

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

. "Uncle John" Sedgwick was born in Cornwall, Connecticut, northeast of West Point, New York. Sculpted by

Launt Thompson Launt Thompson (February 8, 1833 – September 26, 1894) was an American sculptor. Biography He was born in Abbeyleix, Ireland. Due to the Great Famine occurring in Ireland at the time, he emigrated to the United States in 1847 with his widowe ...

and dedicated in 1868, the monument was erected by officers and soldiers of the 6th Army Corps to commemorate Major General Sedgwick and his death at the

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes more simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania (or the 19th-century spelling Spottsylvania), was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's 18 ...

in 1864. Originally, the monument was located on the northwest edge of

the Plain The Plain (), also known as the Marsh (), was the majority of independent deputies in the National Convention during the French Revolution. They were the most moderate and the most numerous group (around 400 deputies) of the National Conventio ...

, it was later relocated to its current location at

Trophy Point Trophy Point is a scenic overlook of the Hudson River Valley located at West Point, New York. It has been the subject of numerous works of art since the early 19th century. Trophy Point is the location of Battle Monument, one of the largest colum ...

across Washington Road from Battle Monument. Legend holds that if a cadet is deficient in academics, the cadet should go to the monument at midnight the night before the term–end examination, in full dress, under arms, and spin the rowels on the monument's spurs. With the resulting good luck, the cadet will pass the test.

References

Monuments and memorials at West Point 1868 sculptures Bronze sculptures in New York (state) Statues in New York (state) 1868 establishments in New York (state) {{coord, 41.3933, -73.958493, region:US_type:edu, display=title