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stone followed it in its slow descent, while
the crowd regarded in solemn silence the
French warrior as he thus rendered, after
the lapse of nearly half a century, the last
honors to the German warrier upon a soil
which they both had reddened with their
blood, and which their arms had combined to
free."
THE MONUMENT AT ANAPOLIS.
On the 14th of October following the death
of De Kalb congress passed the following resolution
providing for the erection of a monument
to the gallant foreigner:
"Resolved, That a monument be erected to
the memory of the late General the Baron De
Kalb, in the city of Annapolis, in the State of
Maryland, with the following inscription:
Sacred to the Memory of
The Baron De Kalb,
Knight of the Royal Order of Military Merit,
Brigadier of the Armies of France,
And Major-General in the Service of the
United States of America.
Having served with honor and reputation for
three years,
He gave a last and glorious proof of his attachment
to the Liberties of Mankind
and the cause of America.
In the action near Camden, in the State of
South Carolina,
On the 16th of August, 1780,
Where, leading on the troops of the Maryland
and Delaware Lines, against superior
numbers,
And animating them by his example to deeds
of valor,
He was pierced with many wounds, and
On the 19th following expired, in the 48th year
of his age.
The Congress of the United States of America,
In gratitude to his zeal, services and merit,
Have erected this monument."
Lack of means and the pressure of other
important public matters delayed the execution
of the work for over one hundred years.
At the session of the Maryland Legislature
in 1878 Col. J. Thomas Scharf, a member of
the House of Delegates from Baltimore city,
introduced joint resolutions in the Legislature
requesting our representatives in Congress
to secure an appropriation to carry out
the original resolution passed by that body in
1780. The resolutions were adopted, and a bill
was introduced in the United States Senate by
Senator J. B. Groome appropriating $10,000
to erect the monument in question, under
"the management and control of the Secretary
of State." The bill finally became a law
in March, 1883, and immediately after applications
poured into the office of the Secretary
of State for the execution of the work.
The matter was referred by Mr. Frelinghuysen,
then Secretary of State, to Third Assistant
Secretary Alvey A. Adee, who awarded
the contract in the autumn of that year
to Mr. Ephrain Keyser, the Baltimore sculptor.
Mr. Keyser went to Rome, Italy, and in
February, 1884, began his work. In the latter
part of March, 1885, when the clay model of
the statute, weighing nearly two tons, was
almost completed, in attempting to lift one
end of the platform on which the statue was
built, one of the supports gave way and the
model was thrown to the floor and broken into
a shapeless mass. This accident greatly discouraged
the sculptor and for nearly two
months he tried to get his work under
way without success. He at last overcame
his difficulties, and by the 1st of January,
1886, the figure was ready for the bronze
founder, and on July 1, 1886, it was in Annapolis
ready for mounting, in accordance with
the terms of his contract, without encroaching
on the extra time granted him by the Secretary
of State on account of the accident.
By the terms of the contract the monument
was to consist of a granite pedestal,
surmounted by a bronze pedestrian statue.
The statue is nine feet two inches in height
from the bottom of the plinth to the top of
the hat, and is cast in the best quality of
bronze cire perdu by G. B. Bastianelli, of
Rome, Italy. The whole statue, with the
exception of the head and arms, is cast in one
single piece. The action of the figure represents
De Kalb cheering on his troops to make
the final charge at Camden, while advancing
on foot, half turning to the right and waving
his sword above his head, he leads them onward.
The pedestal, of Maryland granite, has
been executed from the designs of the sculptor
by Messrs. Matthew Gault & Sons, of Baltimore.
It is twelve feet six inches in height,
of simple design, consisting of a base with
rough-hewn faces, two steps, a plinth upon
the front with "De Kalb" carved in raised
letters, a die block and cap. On the front of
the die block is a bronze tablet containing the
inscription ordered by Congress in 1780 in
raised letters artistically executed. The two
side faces of the die contain bronze coats of
arms of the States of Maryland and Delaware,
three feet high by two feet wide. These,
as well as the inscription plate, are also the
work of the sculptor, and were cast in cire
perdu by G. B. Bastianelli. The total height
of the monument is twenty-one feet eight
inches, exclusive of the raised arm and sword
and the embrankment upon which it stands.
SITE OF THE MONUMENT.
The first site selected for the De Kalb
monument was a historic spot on St. John's
College green. As this did not meet
with the approval of Secretary Bayard,
the last Legislature appointed Governor
Lloyd, Attorney-General Roberts, Chief-
Justice Alvey, Colonel J. Thomas Scharf
and Frank B. Mayer a committee, in conjunction
with Third Assistant Secretary of State
Adee, to select a new site. After looking at
the various sites proposed, the committee
determined upon a location on the lawn on
the southwest exposure of the State House
on the side nearest the circle of the House
of Delegates Chamber. The plot, 24 feet
square, has been ceded to the government by
the State, and the monument will be ready to
be unveiled on Monday next. The Secretary
of State, who has exclusive control of the
affair, has designated a committee to take
in charge the arrangements for the unveiling
of the monument. Colonel J. Thomas Scharf
was made chairman, but owing to the death
of his father, Governor Lloyd will preside at
the ceremonies, and Mr. Joseph S. Heuisler,
of Baltimore, will read his address. The
other members of the committee are A. S.
Abell, Charles B. Roberts, Governor Lloyd,
Robert Garrett, George Small, Dr. Abram
Claude, John E. Hurst, Colonel Edward
Lloyd, Wm. Walsh, Frank B. Mayer, Joseph
Raiber.
SKETCH OF THE SCULPTOR.
Mr. Ephraim Keyser, the sculptor, was
born in Baltimore, October 6, 1851, and was
educated in the public schools of this city and
Baltimore City College. He received his preliminary
art education at the evening sessions
of the Maryland Institute School of Design,
and attended one year at the Maryland Academy
of Art. He went to Europe in the
autum of 1872, and entered the Royal Academy
of Art at Munich. After going through
a course of drawing from the antique and
nude he became a pupil of Prof. Max Widumann,
of the school for sculpture at the
Academy. He studied in Munich three years,
and modeled "The Page," for which he received
the silver medal. In the fall of 1876
he went to Berlin and studied under Prof.
Albert Wolff, and modeled his life-size
stute of "Psyche," for which he received
the Michael-Beer prize, which entitled him to
a year's course of study in Rome. Since 1878
he has been living in Rome except occasional
visits to the United States. He modeled in
Rome the "Pet Falcon," "Old Storye," "Titania"
and a number of portrait busts. He has
modeled in Baltimore quite a number of
busts of some of our prominent citizens. His
works have now secured a world-wide reputation
and are well known to lovers of art.
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