Philip Kearny Monument - Arlington National Cemetery Historic District - Arlington, VA
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 52.797 W 077° 04.458
18S E 320071 N 4305499
Lost his arm in the Mexican War (1846) and his life in the Civil War.
Waymark Code: WMW3M7
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 07/06/2017
Views: 6
County of statue: Arlington County
Location of statue: Meigs Ave. & Sheridan Dr., Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington
Artist: Edward Clark Potter, 1857-1923, Sculptor
Founder: Gorham Manufacturing Company
Monument Text:
(Proper Left Side of Base):
E. C. Potter, Sc. 1914
Gorham Co, Founder
New York
(On front of base, incised):
NEW JERSEY/HONORS HER MOST
DISTINGUISHED SOLDIER
ERECTED 1914
(On proper right side of base):
MAJOR GENERAL PHILIP KEARNY
BORN JUNE 1, 1814
(Rear of base):
KEARNY
Proper Description: This sculpture depicts Kearny on horseback, head turned to the proper right, his proper right arm is down, proper right hand holding the reins of his horse. He wears a Union Civil War uniform. Kearny was an amputee, and thus the cuff of his proper left sleeve is buttoned to the proper left front of his jacket. He wears a cap and has a goatee. His horse appears to be in mid-stride, with proper right front hoof and proper left rear hoof raised" ~ Smothsonian American Art Museum
Remarks: Philip Kearny (1814-1862) was born in New York City. He lost his left arm while serving in the Mexican War in 1846. He served with the French army in Italy (1859), and was awarded the cross of the French Legion of Honor. Finally, he served in the Union Army in the Civil War, leading the 1st New Jersey Brigade until he was killed on a reconnoitering expedition." ~ Smithsonian American Art Museum
"Civil War Union Army Major General. He had the most combat experience of any General of either side at the start of the Civil War, losing his arm in the Mexican War and commanded French troops in the Italian War. He took command of the First New Jersey Brigade, and trained it to be an outstanding fighting force. He commanded a division in the Peninsular Campaign and the Second Battle of Bull Run. He was responsible for the Union Army Corps identification markers, and a medal awarded in his honor, The Kearny Patch, became the inspiration for the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was killed in the Battle of Chantilly on September 1, 1862 when he inadvertently rode into Confederate lines, and was shot as he turned away. His body was forwarded to the Union line by Robert E. Lee under a flag of truce, and his death was lamented by commanders on both sides. His body lay in an unmarked vault in Manhattan's Trinity Churchyard until 1912, when the efforts of CMOH recipient Charles Hopkins (who had served under General Kearny in the First Jersey Brigade) secured his re-burial with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. Today his grave is marked by one of the only two equestrian statues in the Cemetery." ~ Find-A-Grave