Major General John Fulton Reynolds (1883)

by John Rogers (1829 - 1904)

Photo Caption: Photo Caitlin Martin © 2012 for the Association for Public Art
  • Title

    Major General John Fulton Reynolds

  • Artist

    John Rogers (1829 - 1904)

  • Year

    1883; installed 1884

  • Location

    City Hall, North Plaza (John F. Kennedy Boulevard and N Broad Street)

  • Medium

    Bronze, on granite base

  • Dimensions

    Height 12′, width 5', depth 10' (base height 10′, 6', depth 11'

  • Themes

    The Civil War, Equestrian Sculpture, Military Generals

Commissioned by the Reynolds Monument Association and Grand Army of the Republic

Owned by the City of Philadelphia


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Over eighteen years after Major General John Fulton Reynolds was killed by a sharpshooter’s bullet in Gettysburg in 1863, Joseph Temple of Philadelphia offered $25,000 toward a sculpture to commemorate the fallen Pennsylvanian and the state’s participation in the Civil War.

Major General John Fulton Reynolds by artist John Rogers
Photo Caitlin Martin © 2013 for the Association for Public Art

The artist chosen was John Rogers, who was known for his parlor sculptures, popularly known as “convention groupings.” Rogers had never produced a sculpture of this scale before, and initially hesitated. He ultimately took on the project, and began studying the anatomy of horses and collecting information about the general. He aimed to “represent General Reynolds in front of the battlefield as he was on the first day of Gettysburg. The horse is startled and shying away from the noise and danger in the direction he is looking, while the General is pointing to the same spot and giving the direction to his aides at his side.”

Adapted from Public Art in Philadelphia by Penny Balkin Bach (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1992).

Voices heard in the Museum Without Walls: AUDIO program: Gregory Urwin is a professor of history at Temple University. He has a longstanding interest in military history, especially the Civil War. Lynn D. Marsden-Atlass is the former director of the Arthur Ross Gallery at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a specialist in American and contemporary art. Segment Producer: John Myers

Museum Without Walls: AUDIO is the Association for Public Art’s award-winning audio program for Philadelphia’s outdoor sculpture. Available for free by phone, mobile app, or online, the program features more than 150 voices from all walks of life – artists, educators, civic leaders, historians, and those with personal connections to the artworks.

This artwork is part of the Around City Hall tour

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