Glorification of Military Service

Using Rhode Island and U.S. patriotism as a foundation, the monument dedication and newspaper articles summoned a glorified image of military service the monument was intended to represent. In Horatio Rogers’ remarks regarding how future generations should view the monument, he urged future generations to “maintain at any sacrifice, the goodly heritage” they have inherited.[18] In this way, the Burnside monument projected Burnside’s military service as a duty that was imposed upon each citizen of the U.S.

The landscape of the monument also contributed to its military symbolism; as Mayor Robbins observed during the dedication, the Burnside statue was built across the plaza from a monument in memory of “those who nobly…gave their life’s blood for the honor of this city and state.” [19] The Providence Journal summed up the monument’s symbolism of military service, stating that it would remind citizens of the “honor which the state pays to valor and worth.”[20] The statue was intended to act as an incentive, or almost a threat, to prioritize service to one’s country.