I wrote a little yesterday about the distinctive (for Iowa) costuming of the Civil War soldier (left) atop Chariton's 1916 courthouse square memorial --- a slouch hat and sack coat as opposed to the more common forage hat and greatcoat.
So rather than doing anything useful yesterday while anticipating a post-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner (thanks, Bonnie), I worked my way rapidly through the directory of Iowa Civil War monuments provided by the Iowa Chapter, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
The only other similarly costumed soldier I could find (among dozens) in Iowa is located in the park in Eddyville (top). It's much older than the Chariton statue and the pose is different --- but the costume is roughly the same. So our guy does have at least one mate in the state.
I remember stopping to take a closer look at this guy many years ago in a former life when I passed through Eddyville en route to Iowa City quite frequently. At that time, he was in pretty bad shape. But quite recently he's been restored and holds pride of place in the Eddyville park again.
The process reminded me of another distinctive Civil War statue that I once knew well --- on the east approach to the Winnebago County Courithouse in Forest City. He dates from 1900, tops a fountain and was crafted in painted zinc by the J.L. Mott Iron Works of Trenton, N.J.
When I knew him, he'd accumulated a few too many coats of paint and was looking a little shabby; he's been restored, too, and is looking good. So far as I know he's the only painted statue in the state. The photographs of the Eddyville and Forest City statues are borrowed from the Sons.
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