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Title
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Tripoli Monument
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Description
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The Tripoli monument features a thirty-foot-high Carrara marble rostral column, characterized by a column with ships sailing through it, topped by an eagle. The sandstone base supports four figures: America, History, Commerce, and Victory. A Native American woman symbolizes America with two children by her side; History is depicted by a woman seated and writing in a book. Victory is represented as a classical winged figure positioned atop the base, holding a laurel wreath and a bronze palm branch. Commerce is portrayed by a male figure who points to the column with his right hand and holds a caduceus in his left. All four sides of the base are engraved. The small base on the north side has the artists signature, "Giov. Charles Micali Invento / In Livorno 1806." The west says "The Love of Glory Inspired Them / Fame Has Crowned Their Deeds / History Records the Event / The Children of Columbia Admire / And Commerce Laments Their Fall." The east is inscribed "As a Small Tribute of Respect to Their Memory / And of Admiration of Their Valour / So Worthy of Imitation / Their Brother Officers / Have Erected This Monument." The south side says "Erected in the Memory of Captain / Richard Somers, Lieutenant / James Caldwell, James Decatur, / Henry Wadsworth, Joseph Israel, / And John Dorsey Who Fell in the Different / Attacks that Were Made on the City of Tripoli / In the Year of our Lord 1804 / And in the 28 Year of The Independence / Of the United States." The larger base has the same inscription on all four sides, "To The Memory of / Somers, Caldwell, Decatur, Wadsworth, / Dorsey, Israel."
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Coordinates
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Leahy Hall, Annapolis, MD 21401
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Location
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United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland
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Note
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The Tripoli monument is the oldest military monument in the United States. The monument was transported in 51 sections aboard the USS Constitution and was initially installed at the Washington Navy Yard in 1808. Benjamin Henry Latrobe helped with its reconstruction Subsequently, it was relocated to the Capitol in Washington, D.C., in 1831, becoming the first monument dedicated within the Nation's current Capitol. It faced the National Mall during this period. In 1860, it was moved to its present location at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Restoration was completed in 2000.
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Abstract
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Giovanni Carlo Micali's 1807 monument, made of Carrara marble and sandstone, was among the U.S.'s earliest military monuments. It features a rostral column and four statues symbolizing America, History, Commerce, and Victory, honoring officers who died in the First Barbary War in Tripoli. It was moved to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1860.
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Creator
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Giovanni Carlo Micali|210
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Date
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1807
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Medium
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Carrara Marble|Sandstone
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Date Modified
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1831|1860
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Subject
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Navy officers who died in action against Barbar pirates during the First Barbary War in Tripoli|America|History|Commerce|Victory
