Equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson (Washington, D.C.)

Description

The statue portrays Andrew Jackson, who commanded U.S. forces at the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815, and served as the seventh president from 1829 to 1837. It was commissioned in May 1847 by the Jackson Monument Committee, chaired by John Peter Van Ness, who died before completion. Clark Mills, who had never met Jackson nor seen an equestrian statue, won the commission over Hiram Powers and Robert Mills. He taught himself the necessary skills, modeled the horse on his own horse Olympus, and borrowed Jackson's uniform from the U.S. Patent Office.

Mills established a new bronze foundry at his studio on 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. He produced six castings, with ten pieces total—six for Jackson and four for the horse. An enslaved apprentice, Phillip Reid, assisted with the casting, which was completed in 1852. The statue is the first U.S. equestrian bronze and the first to depict a horse rearing on two legs without extra support; tests in 1993 revealed iron cores inside the rear legs for added strength.

History

The statue was dedicated on January 8, 1853, the 38th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans. A procession from Judiciary Square preceded an address by Senator Stephen A. Douglas to a crowd of 20,000, including President Fillmore, Major General Winfield Scott, cabinet members, and Congress. Cannons fired a salute. At the dedication, Mills reportedly threw himself against the horse's raised front legs to demonstrate stability.

Over time, the square's landscaping was simplified, and statues of Revolutionary War figures were added: the Marquis de Lafayette in 1891, Rochambeau in 1902, and Von Steuben and Kościuszko in 1910. The view from the White House is framed by bronze Navy Yard Urns on marble plinths. The Jackson statue originally faced a bronze Thomas Jefferson statue on the White House North Lawn until 1874. Early 20th-century proposals to move Jackson's statue to Washington Circle were resisted due to its historical importance. On June 22, 2020, a crowd unsuccessfully attempted to topple the statue during the George Floyd protests.

Other castings

Mills created two additional copies of the monument. One was unveiled in February 1856 at Jackson Square in New Orleans, Louisiana. The second, commissioned by the Tennessee Historical Society for Nashville’s centennial, was dedicated on May 20, 1880, at the Tennessee State Capitol grounds. Mills was present at both ceremonies; the Nashville dedication marked his final public appearance before his 1883 death. A third casting, produced by the Modern Art Foundry of Long Island City, New York, was dedicated in 1987 near Jacksonville Landing in Jacksonville, Florida.