A manual on the origin and development of Washington

by H. Paul Caemmerer

On August 7, 1783, the year that witnessed the treaty of peace at Paris, Congress ordered—

That an equestrian statue of General Washington be erected at the place where Congress shall be established, * * * in honor of George Washington, the illustrious Commander in Chief of the Armies of the United States of America during the War which vindicated and secured their liberty, sovereignty, and independence.

OLD PATENT OFFICE BUILDING, NOW CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION BUILDING

But no action was taken to carry out this legislation. The monument was to have been executed by Ceracchi, a Roman sculptor, and paid for by contributions of individuals. As has been mentioned, a site for it was marked on the L’Enfant map of the city of Washington at the intersection on the Mall of the axis of the Capitol and the White House.

As President, by his wise administration of the affairs of the new Republic, General Washington so added to his fame and so won the gratitude of his countrymen that on his death a select joint committee of both Houses of Congress was appointed to consider a suitable manner of paying honor to his memory. Thus, on December 23, 1799, on motion of John Marshall in the House of Representatives, it was resolved by Congress—

That a marble monument be erected by the United States in the Capitol, at the city of Washington, and that the family of General Washington be requested to permit his body to be deposited under it; and that the monument be so designed as to commemorate the great events of his military and political life.

It was then proposed to make an area in front of the Capitol available for the monument, and an appropriation of $100,000 was proposed to carry the resolution into effect. Instead of an equestrian statue, by the terms of this resolution the monument was to take the form of a “mausoleum of American granite and marble, in pyramidal form, 100 feet square at the base and of a proportionate height.”

On January 1, 1801, the House of Representatives passed a bill appropriating $200,000 for the monument. The Senate, however, did not concur in this act, due, it is thought, to political questions that absorbed the attention of Congress and the people until the War of 1812.

In 1816 the General Assembly of Virginia endeavored to secure the consent of Judge Bushrod Washington, then proprietor of Mount Vernon, to have the remains of President Washington removed to Richmond, there to be marked by a fitting monument to his memory.