General William Jenkins Worth Monument

You are standing beside one of the few places in New York City that serves as both a public monument and a private tomb. Buried directly beneath this fifty-one-foot granite obelisk is Major General William Jenkins Worth, a prominent military leader who fought in the War of 1812, the Seminole Wars, and the Mexican-American War. While thousands of people pass this traffic island every day, very few realize they are walking over the final resting place of a man whose legacy is etched into the very map of the United States. Fort Worth in Texas and Lake Worth in Florida both take their names from this same soldier. The monument itself is a masterwork of nineteenth-century symbolism. If you look closely at the heavy cast-iron fence surrounding the base, you will notice that the individual pickets are shaped like swords. These are replicas of the Congressional Sword of Honor awarded to General Worth for his leadership. The design was overseen by James Goodwin Batterson, who later became one of the primary architects for the United States Capitol and the Library of Congress. General Worth was not originally buried here. After he died of cholera in Texas in 1849, his remains were first interred in Brooklyn before being moved to this spot in 1857. The re-interment was a massive public event, featuring a grand procession of sixty-five hundred soldiers marching through the city to mark the occasion on Evacuation Day, which commemorates the departure of British troops from New York at the end of the Revolutionary War. A relic box remains hidden within the cornerstone, containing artifacts from the era including 1787 and 1812 copper pennies, a Colt revolver, and local newspapers. One of the most enduring contributions of General Worth has nothing to do with his battlefield victories, but rather his time as the commandant of cadets at West Point. During his tenure, he authored a set of stern guidelines that became mandatory reading for generations of future military officers. These writings include the famous instruction that an officer on duty knows no one, a principle meant to enforce absolute impartiality and discipline. Even today, these words remain a core part of the training manual for every cadet who passes through the academy. TOPIC_DONE