Noble Ideal of White Manhood

Lastly, the Burnside monument combined the narratives of self-sacrifice, patriotism, and military service to establish a noble ideal of white manhood. In Reverend Joseph J. Wooley’s prayer in the opening of the Burnside monument dedication, he voiced his aspirations that the monument would perpetuate “lessons of loyalty, of magnanimity, and of noble manhood.”[21] Wooley’s diction was very purposeful; this statue was a model of the virtues of “noble” white manhood—honesty, poise, self-sacrifice—that future generations must abide by. General Richmond reinforced these ideals of white manhood, asserting that memories of Burnside would be imbued with “chivalric patriotism.”[22] Chivalry, a word saturated with implications about gender, bestowed men, and more specifically white men, a particular kind of privilege and power. It established a rigid gender hierarchy with white men at the top, and reproduced a narrative in which white men were the saviors and protectors of women, and particularly white women. General Rogers vocalized this ideal of protection by allegorizing the U.S. during the Civil War, claiming that “in her dire necessity she turned to [Burnside]” in search of leadership and commitment.[23] In this intentional rhetoric constructed by Rogers, Burnside assumed the archetypal role of a chivalrous man in his patriotic service to the U.S. during the Civil War. The U.S., which Rogers depicted as a kind of “woman in distress,” relied on Burnside to protect it from harm. In this narrative, the country was in “dire” need of him, and he delivered.

The form of the monument reverberated with these ideals of white manhood. Mayor Robbins repeatedly referred to the monument as “imposing,”[24] establishing a clear power dynamic between the viewer and the subject of the monument, General Burnside. It is evident the politicians and military leaders behind the monument wanted to capture this noble yet selfless power in the form of the monument. Its sheer height ensured the impossibility of coming face-to-face with Burnside; instead, the viewer would be perpetually demoted to a secondary, more peripheral status. Chivalry and white manhood, accordingly, were based upon this power dynamic, making the “imposing” Burnside an ideal guardian of white male superiority.