In a city filled with World War I monuments, one of the most distinctive is just across Van Cortlandt Park East in the triangle formed by E. 238th and Oneida Ave, across the street from the Nimham Monument. It consists of a concrete sphere on which sits a sculpture of an American bald eagle, all balanced on a stand containing plaques of Woodlawn Heights soldiers who gave up their lives in the “Great War.” One of them, Private Howard Buse, was killed in the United States, as he was standing guard on the Mill Rift railroad bridge over the Delaware River near Port Jervis and was struck by a train.
Daniel Nimham and his group were not Oneida Indians; it’s thought that the name commemorates the gunboat that Admiral David Farragut (who is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery) commanded at the Battle of New Orleans during the Civil War. The vessel was constructed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
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8/27/18
5 comments
World War 1 the war to end all wars. Unlike the civil war, WW1 was the beginning of wars of mass destruction. The United States lost more people in the Civil War because that was an internal war between the Northern and Southern United States. In a sense, we were having a family war and, killing each other. During WW1 young men romanticized the war with songs like, It’s a long way to Tipperary.” It was a time of trench warfare when both sides dug into trenches and attacked on another from bunkers. The canons became more destructive than ever in the history of warfare. Many soldiers became shell-shocked from loud noises made by the cannons. WW1 was the first war I can say I had a relative who fought it in. He was an uncle of mine whose profession was Book Seller. WW1 was the beginning of aerial combat. People celebrated the great air pilots on both sides of the conflict. The German Air Force had a famous pilot by the name of the Red Baron. We had Eddy Rickenbacher. World War 1 was not the end of wars to end all wars, we are still fighting wars today!
When I was a small kid — late 1930s — there was a French 75 mm cannon parked in front of this Great War monument. It disappeared early in WWII, no doubt recycled for scrap.
I think that should be Van Cortlandt Park East, not South.
Thanks
Transit Museum is doing a WWI related walk there this fall.