Jefferson Davis Statue Made By Frederick Hibbard, Master Sculptor

Yesterday I mentioned Jefferson Davis's statute on the grounds of the Alabama State Capitol. It was sculpted by Frederick Hibbard, born in 1881,  who as a child, worked with the clay on the banks of the Mississippi River. There he sculpted some of his favorite animals. The clay ignited his fascination for the art of sculpture, according to Wikepedia, from which I found this information.

One of Hibbard's first major successes came when he was selected by the UDC to erect a monument on the battlefield at Shiloh. He said later:"This monument was erected in memory of the 10,000 Confederate soldiers who fell in the Battle of Shiloh. The subject was a difficult one, for the Battle of Shiloh did not result in a Confederate victory. I went weeks studying Civil War history and biography, deciding at last to use symbolic figures typifying the reasons for the defeat."  This monument was dedicated in 1917.

Soon after this, he did an equestrian statue of U.S.Grant (boo) for Vicksburg. The requirement was that he should be depicted as he was during the Siege of Vicksburg. Hibbard said "I could not fulfill the latter requirement because the General wore a blouse and his pants were over his boots. Had he been made in sculpture during the siege, he would have looked like a rooster with its tail feathers pulled out and spurs cut off."

The Sculptor's impressive career spanned almost a half century from 1904 until 1948. One of his masterpieces is a twelve-foot statue of Jefferson Davis, in Frankfort, Kentucky. In 1940 a second statue of Jefferson Davis was unveiled - ours in Montgomery, Alabama, the birthplace of the Civil War.