John Ericsson Monument Battery Park NYC Photo Tour

We all know that the Bronx is Up and the Battery’s Down…but did you know that one of the most vivid Civil War monuments is at the Battery? The Battery is ALL the way Downtown in Manhattan, at its Southernmost point. It was the first part of the island settled by Europeans and it was fortified from Dutch days in the 1600s until after the War of 1812. Today it is an extremely beautiful park where large numbers of New Yorkers go for a stroll along the confluence of the Hudson River and East River and gaze out on New York Harbor to see the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Narrows, and a host of other seaward sights. In the popular park are a number of monuments and historic sites and today I am discussing the monument to John Ericsson, the nautical inventor who developed the famous Civil War Ironclad the Monitor. The ship was an amazing innovation as were the many groundbreaking technological innovations Erickson developed that made the Monitor possible.

The statue depicts a strong and decisive man of technology holding a model of his most famous invention in his hand. Ericsson built the revolutionary ship near this site at the Bushwick Bight in Brooklyn. The Monitor sailed past what is now Battery Park on its way to Hampton Roads in Virginia to fight the Confederate Ironclad Merrimack.

The sculptor, Jonathan Scott Hartley, provides a detailed depiction of both Erickson and the ship’s model he holds.

You can see in this side view that J.S. Hartley has signed his work and dated it to 1902. Beneath the signature is a frieze depicting the most famous naval battle of the Civil War, the fight between the Monitor and the Merrimack.

Here is a close-up view of the Battle of Hampton Roads depicted on the base of the monument.

The front of the monument has the name “John Ericsson” and depicts the first ship he developed for the United States Navy, the U.S.S. Princeton. Launched in 1842 it used an innovative system of two propellers that made it the fastest ship in the world. While Ericsson’s work on the ship is now viewed as innovative, a year after the ship was launched one of its long guns was fired in a demonstration for President Tyler. The gun exploded, killing the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Interior as well as four others. Several dozen others were injured. While Ericsson had nothing to do with the design or placement of the gun, because he was associated with the Princeton so prominently, he was diminished in public opinion.

Ericsson wound up in court suing Captain Robert F. Stockton who had claimed that he had developed the Princeton.

Another side depicts fire equipment developed by Ericsson.

I enjoyed looking at the technology this immigrant inventor developed in the United States.

The rear panel shows a panoply of at the time cutting edge inventions from Ericsson.

The statue was erected by the City of New York. As an immigrant with little formal education he was a hero to New Americans at the end of the 19th Century and a symbol of New York’s position on technology’s cutting edge. The monument was restored in 1996 and it is good condition.

Below is a 19th Century panorama showing the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan.

It is very easy to access this statue by Subway. Many trains arrive at the South Ferry and White Hall stations. Both are a five minute walks from the monument. The Staten Island Ferry lands at the park.

History students with a little money may want to dine at Fraunces Tavern where George Washington gave his “Farewell Address.” It is a seven minute walk from the statue.

A stroll around the park is advised and if you have a couple of hours free, take the Staten Island Ferry to SI. It is a free ride and you get great photos of some of New York’s best known sites. Many passengers get right back on the ferry for the free return ride.

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