Guarding the Park: The Statue of Henry Lawton at Garfield Park
- Ed Fujawa
- Aug 15
- 6 min read
A few weekends ago I spent a few hours on a short driving tour around the near south side of Indianapolis seeking photographs for a few future blog topics which will focus on that side of town. One of my stops was at Garfield Park. I was planning to visit the sunken gardens at the Garfield Park Conservatory, but I must have missed the memo, or the moose outside should have told me, because the Sunken Gardens were torn up, apparently undergoing a renovation.
However, in the parking area for the conservatory stands a large statue of a mustachioed soldier with the name “Lawton” mounted on the front of a stone pedestal upon which it stands. This is Henry W. Lawton, one of the most celebrated soldiers with Indiana ties in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Born in Maumee, Ohio on March 17, 1843, Lawton’s family moved to Fort Wayne and he spent is formative years around Fort Wayne and the northwest part of Ohio. He joined the. 9th Indiana regiment in April 1861 at the outset of the Civil War as part of the initial call for volunteers to serve 90 days. During this initial enlistment Lawton saw combat in a few small actions in present day West Virginia until he returned home in July of that year. He immediately joined another regiment, the 30th Indiana, and served with that unit for the remainder of the war, seeing extensive action in the western theater in Kentucky and Tennessee and Georgia. He ended the war as a brevet colonel, meaning the rank was temporary as Lawton was a volunteer and not part of the regular Army.
Following the war, Lawton read the law briefly before attending law school at Harvard and then sought to rejoin the Army as a regular, versus a volunteer. In 1866-67 he received a commission as a lieutenant and was sent west to participate in the campaigns against Native Americans. His unit was involved in the pursuit of Geronimo, and there was some controversy as to whether the famed warrior surrendered to Lawton or his commanding officer. In the late 1880’s he was made the inspector general of the Army and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
In 1893 Lawton received a blast from the past when he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service during the Civil War. The "tardy recognition" was for heroic acts during the campaign to capture Atlanta when Lawton was a captain and came nearly 30 years after the battle.
With the outset of the Spanish American War in 1898, a new call for volunteers was made. Lawton was promoted to major general of volunteers and received command of a division which participated in the amphibious landings in Cuba at the outset of the war. His division continued operations throughout the fighting in Cuba, and in August of 1898 he was made military governor of the city of Santiago de Cuba.
Following his service in Cuba, Lawton was transferred to the Philippines where he continued to command a division of volunteers. At the Battle of San Mateo in December of 1899, Lawton, who had a tendency to lead from the front and close to the firing lines, was shot and killed by a sniper. He was the highest ranking soldier killed during the conflict.
Lawton was eventually buried in Arlington National Cemetery (his initial interment had been in the Philippines), but his Indiana connections were enough for a statue to be commissioned for placement in Indianapolis (another would later be placed in Fort Wayne). A fundraising drive for the statue was commenced shortly after news of Lawton's death reached Indiana, although it would take several years before the statue was completed.
The statue was cast in bronze and sculpted by Andrew O'Conner in 1906. O'Conner's work was honored with a Second Class medal at the Paris Salon, a first for an American. The dedication for the statue was planned for Memorial Day, May 30, 1907, with the statue being placed on the grounds of the Marion County courthouse (located where Lugar Plaza is today).
The dedication was a grand event for the city, with the courthouse and most of downtown decked out in red, white and blue bunting and American flags. The guest of honor at the dedication was to be President Theodore Roosevelt, then in the final year of presidency, and like Lawton, a veteran of the Spanish American War. Joining him would be Vice President Fairbanks, a native of Indiana and Indianapolis. Roosevelt was entertained for lunch at Fairbank's home on Meridian Street (just south of 16th Street) before traveling downtown in a caravan. The homes along Meridian Street were decked out in patriotic dress and Roosevelt rode through downtown Indianapolis in a parade-like fashion, greeting onlookers along the route, and saluting the Soldiers and Sailors Monument as he made his way around the Circle.
Seating around the platform from where the president would speak filled quickly, while the streets around the courthouse became clogged with citizens there for the dedication, or to see Roosevelt. Windows of nearby buildings were also crowded with onlookers. "While the seats were filling, the streets roundabout the courthouse were being thronged," reported the Indianapolis News. "Tops of buildings and windows where seen were inhabited." Joining Roosevelt and Fairbanks on the main platform was the governor of Indiana, and various other elected officials, as well as out of state representatives. Additionally, Lawton's widow, Mary Lawton, and his three daughters Frances, Catherine, and Louise (he also had a son who was unable to attend), would be seated with Roosevelt on the platform. Frances would release the covering on the statue when it was time for its grand reveal. The image at the top of this post shows this unveiling, with Frances pulling up what appears to be an American flag to reveal the statue.
The crowds for the dedication were impressive and attendance estimates ranged well into the thousands. The Indiana Historical Society has an amazing panoramic photo of the festivities taken from the southwest corner of Delaware and Washington Street, looking towards the courthouse and the statue. The photo is too large to post here, but check this link to view the full image, and make sure to zoom in to explore the details in the photo.
In addition to Roosevelt, poet James Whitcomb Riley participated in the event, and read a specially written poem. Riley was mostly retired and in poor health at this point, and made few public appearances. The image below shows Riley presenting his poem.
Roosevelt gave a wide ranging speech, not only honoring Lawton, but also discussing various significant issues and policy topics of the day. He discussed social and industrial problems facing the country, and noted that laws passed addressing the operations of corporations and railroads were a "step in the right direction." He spent much time discussing the regulation of railroads and the need for federal authority over railroads and the interstate commerce they promoted.
Once all the festivities had ended, the president departed from Union Station, the Lawton statue continued to reside on the southwestern corner of the courthouse for the next several years. However, its place by the courthouse was short-lived and the statue was moved to a location in Garfield Park. The exact reason for the move is unclear, although some sources suggest it was done due to the proximity of the statue to the busy roadway and there was concern about damage from vehicles. The move, and the decision for the new site, was made in consultation with landscape architect George E. Kessler, who had been retained by the city to help design its park and boulevard system.
The move was made in June of 1915. An Indianapolis Star article about the move noted that it had been done “upon the request of representatives of local patriotic organizations.” In its new location the statue was the focus of Memorial Day celebrations and honors related to the Spanish American War, although these events faded over the years, as the veterans of that conflict passed and the war was overshadowed by the country's involvement in a larger conflict in 1917. A group called the Lawton Guards, which consisted of nine to 13 year old boys, and seemed akin to the Boy Scouts, or a junior paramilitary group, would often march to the park to pay homage to their namesake.
The statue at its new, and current location, is shown above, overlooking the Sunken Gardens and the parking lot for the Garfield Park greenhouse. The plaque on the back side of the monument was installed at the time of the move and does not detail Lawton's entire military career, or his Medal of Honor, but notes his first military service as a sergeant in the 9th Indiana during the Civil War and his final rank as a major general, during the Spanish American War, and the war in the Philippines.
Sources
Indianapolis News: June 26, 1893, June 30, 1893, February 2, 1900, May 30, 1907, November 12, 1914
Indianapolis Star: November 7, 1914, June 9, 1915, June 6, 1926, November 10, 1929
In memoriam. Funeral oration at obsequies of Major General Henry W. Lawton, U. S. volunteers, https://archive.org/details/inmemoriamfunera00stry/page/4/mode/2up
Henry W. Lawton Statue Dedication Photographs, Indiana State Library, https://digital.library.in.gov/Record/ISL_p16066coll13-5200
Indiana history bulletin, volume 42, number 02, February 1965, Indiana State Library Digital Collections, https://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16066coll16/id/13396
With Scott's battery, Battle of Baliuag b&w film copy neg., With Scott's battery, Battle of Baliuag - b&w film copy neg. | Library of Congress
Henry Lawton Monument, Indy Arts Council, https://indyarts.org/public-art/henry-lawton-monument/
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