Materials & Associated Information

Bronze

There is not much of interest to be said about the bronze portions of the Confederate Monument from a construction or material perspective as they are wholly within the norm for the period. The alloy of the bronze was not identified as there was no necessity to do so. There is no significant lack of quality or problems in casting evident and similarly there are no significant achievements in the casting though it should be stated that the quality of casting is very high. All joins are typical. The artistic quality of the bronze relief is quite high as was remarked elsewhere.

The bronze relief band
The relief depicting a generalized but accurate battle scene was designed by Alexander Doyle (1857-1922) who reportedly did the necessary sculpting of the full-size design in clay for the casting. The relief was cast by the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company of New York City which operated under the name E. Henry & Bonnard from 1872 to 1881 and under The Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company from 1882-1926.
The band was cast in six sections. Each section has a cast flange to the rear along the joining edges. The joins of the bronze follow forms wherever possible. These flanges are bolted together behind the band. This joining technique was revealed when a deteriorated portion of the plinth was cut out to study what was behind the bronze.

A view of the reverse side of the underside of the lower edge of the bronze relief band that reveals the strong method of joining two of the six sections

An investigation was made during the assessment to determine what was behind the bronze band. Signs of expansion and opening of joins of the metal band at the bottom and top were taken as signs of a possibility there was material behind the bronze that was swelling with water and expanding on freezing.

Since the limestone forming the plinth under the bronze was so deteriorated as to leave no doubt it would need replacing, liberty was taken to cut into it deeply enough to look up under the bronze.

Red sand and debris from rock (and possibly brick) was found packed within the space left behind the bronze band and the stone drum centered within that bears the load of the column. The sand was dense and firm either from deliberate packing or through settlement. It was important to discover when access to this space was made during the assessment that the sand was holding moisture; it was damp even though the monument had not encountered rain for the previous 22 days. The sand has no useful purpose except possibly as an aid in keeping the band centered during construction.
It is expected that the band of bronze was assembled on the ground and lifted into place after the stone drum that resides behind the bronze was placed. The bronze band simply rests upon its stone plinth and the stone of the column above places no weight upon the bronze.