Johnson Square - Savannah

We are taking our last "family" road trip. Our new Ensign son has a company mate getting married tomorrow in Jacksonville, Florida, so the three of us and a new Marine Second Lieutenant friend have been driving south from Annapolis. The drive was the typical freeway/highway drive until we got off the main path and headed "out-of-the-way" to Wilmington, North Carolina to get down Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for the first night. That gave us the chance to do our first tourist site-seeing opportunity - the Fort Fisher-Southport Ferry. I loved the look of the Kure Beach area on the North Carolina side - it looked like a place to check out again. We spent the first night in Myrtle Beach, then onto Charleston, South Carolina for a drive-through viewing of the downtown region, and a mid-afternoon arrival in Savannah, Georgia.

After lunch at Paula Deen's The Lady and Son's restaurant, we walked under threatening skies down to the riverfront, took a quick look as the thunder and rain ramped up, and then made our way to the parking structure to beat the storm. The one thing that I wanted to see in Savannah was the monument to Nathanael Greene, one of George Washington's generals in the Revolutionary War. Our Midshipman son had visited Savannah three summers ago on one of his cruises, and had shown me a picture that he had taken when he stumbled across it in a park he saw when walking to another restaurant. I had read a biography about Greene, and had wanted to see the monument myself.

It was a bit of a calamity locating the square that held the monument. We kept putting different variations of names into our GPS where we guessed the monument could be: Nathanael Greene Park, Nathanael Greene Square..... After miles of driving around Savannah in the rain, we finally figured out that the Nathanael Greene Monument was located in Johnson Square (a quick change in search tactics using an iPhone and a Wikipedia search put us on the right track). It turned out that we had walked by Johnson Square right after we left the parking structure on our way to Paula Deen's - so it is, but it made for a good quest.
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Johnson Square is located on Bull Street, between Bryan and Congress Streets. Johnson Square was the first of Savannah's squares and remains the largest of the twenty four. It was named for Robert Johnson, colonial governor of South Carolina and a friend of James Oglethorpe. Johnson Square contains two fountains, as well as a sundial dedicated to Colonel William Bull, the namesake of Savannah's Bull Street. Bull was a South Carolinian who assisted Oglethorpe with the establishment of Savannah and, as a surveyor, laid out the original street grid. The sundial has four panels, one on each side of its square granite base. The dial itself is bronze, set atop a marble shaft. One of the base panels reproduces a 1734 map of Savannah.

Interred in the square is Revolutionary War hero General Nathanael Greene, the namesake of nearby Greene Square. Greene died in 1786 and was buried in Savannah's Colonial Park Cemetery. His son, George Washington Greene, was buried beside him after drowning in the Savannah River in 1793. Following vandalism of the cemetery by occupying Union forces during the Civil War the location of Greene's burial was lost.

After the remains were re-identified Greene and his son were moved to Johnson Square. An obelisk in the center of the square now serves as a memorial to Gen. Greene. The cornerstone of the monument was laid by the Marquis de La Fayette in 1825. At that time the obelisk did not yet commemorate any specific individual or event. In fact, due to financial restrictions the unmarked obelisk served for several years as a joint monument to both Greene and Casimir Pulaski. Inscriptions honoring Greene were added in 1886, but the Greenes’ physical remains did not arrive until 1901, following their "rediscovery."
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Nathanael Greene Monument or General Greene Monument. Dates: 1825-1830. Plaques cast 1883-1886. Wreath cast 1902. Medium: Sculpture: New York marble; Base: New York marble and bronze. Dimensions: Approx. 50 x 10 x 8 ft. Inscription: C. (sic) Turini/N.Y. 1886 (On rectangular plaque on back of base, raised letters: MAJOR GENERAL/NATHANAEL/GREENE/BORN IN RHODE ISLAND/1742/DIED IN GEORGIA 1786/SOLDIER PATRIOT/THE FRIEND OF/WASHINGTON/THIS SHAFT/HAS BEEN REARED BY THE/PEOPLE OF SAVANNAH/IN HONOR/OF HIS GREAT SERVICES/TO THE/AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

The monument is an obelisk on a multi-tiered, rectangular base. On the front of the base there is a rectangular bronze plaque with the relief of a standing figure. Below the plaque there is a bronze wreath. A second rectangular bronze plaque is on the back of the base. This monument to Major General Nathanael Greene (1742-1786) was installed by the people of Savannah in honor of his services to the American Revolution. The monument was designed by Alexander Telfair, James P. Screven, and William Marshall, and was erected by Amos Scudder. The marble obelisk and base were constructed between 1825 and 1830.

The monument is administered by City of Savannah, Park & Tree Department, P. O. Box 1027, Savannah, Georgia 31402. It is located in Johnson Square, Bull Street, Savannah, Georgia. The two bronze plaques were cast by G. Turini of the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company and were installed in 1886. The bronze wreath was attached in 1902 by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Additional information on the monument can be found in newspapers housed in The Georgia Historical Society. For related information see Dorothy H. Stewart's "The Monuments and Fountains of Savannah," Savannah: Savannah Park and Tree Department, 1993.

Artist: Alexander Telfair, sculptor. James P. Screven, sculptor. William Marshall, sculptor. William Strickland, architect. Amos Scudder, contractor. Giovanni Turini, 1841-1899, caster. Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company, founder.

The condition of the monument was reported as Treatment Needed when surveyed in November 1993. References: Save Outdoor Sculpture, Georgia survey, 1993. National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, GA0062, 1989.
Monumental News, Oct. 1910, pg. 745.
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The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.
Repository: Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012. Control Number: IAS GA000345