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The most notable adornment of the Madison Square, and the one which ranks as one of the best examples of contemporary sculpture possessed by the city, is the memorial of Admiral DAVID GLASCOE FARRAGUT, by Augustus St. Gaudens. It stands in the northwest corner of the Square, facing Fifth avenue. The Admiral is represented as standing upon the deck of his ship, with field-glass in hand, and coat-skirt flying in the wind. The sturdy pose and erect, rugged figure give fine expression to the character of the man who took the fleet past the forts in Mobile Bay, and "whose name will ever stir like a trumpet the hearts of his grateful countrymen." The pedestal, designed by Stanford White, is in the form of a bench with high curving back; in the center is an admiral's sword; waving lines suggest the sea, and on either side are graceful female figures in low relief personifying Courage and Patriotism.
The memorial inscription reads:
That the memory of a daring and sagacious commander and gentle great-souled man, whose life from childhood was given to his country, but who served her supremely in the war for the Union, 1861-1865, may be preserved and honored; and that they who come after him and who will love him so much may see him as he was seen by friend and foe, his countrymen have set up this monument A. D. MDCCCLXXXI.
The chief events of Farragut's life are outlined in the biographical inscription, which reads:
Born near Knoxville, Tennessee, July 5, 1801. Midshipman, 1810. Battle of Essex and Phoebe, March 28, 1814. Lieutenant, 1825. Commander, 1851. Captain, 1855. Battle of New Orleans, April 23, 1862. Rear-Admiral, 1862. Battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864. Vice-Admiral, December 23, 1864. First Admiral of the United States of America, July 26, 1866. Died at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August 4, 1870.
The statue was presented by the Farragut Memorial Association in Madison Square. An interesting circumstance of the dedication in 1881 was the presence of three of the sailors of the Hartford. At the moment of presentation John H. Knowles, the sailor who lashed Farragut to the mast in the battle of Mobile Bay, assisted by J. B. Millner, who was also on the flagship Hartford, drew aside the drapings from the statue; and B. S. Osborne, the sailor who hoisted the colors of the flagship as she entered the engagement, displayed an admiral's flag as a signal for an admiral's salute of seventeen guns.
Opposite the Farragut statue, in the triangular plot of Madison Square at the parting of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, is the WORTH MONUMENT, erected by the city in 1857 over the tomb of Major-General William Jenkins Worth, a hero of the War of 1812 and the Mexican War. General Worth was the first to plant the flag of the United States on the Rio Grande, and the first to enter the city of Mexico. He died in Texas in 1849; in 1857 his remains were interred here. The granite monument bears a bronze portrait, the legends Ducit amor patrice ("Love of country guides") and "Honor the Brave," and the names of the battles in which General Worth had part.
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