Norwood in the Bronx in Bronx County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Bronx River Soldier
Erected 1898 by John Grignola, sculptor.
Topics. This memorial is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil.
Location. 40° 52.653′ N, 73° 52.763′ W. Memorial is in Bronx, New York, in Bronx County. It is in Norwood. It is on Bainbridge Avenue south of Reservoir Oval West, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Memorial is at or near this postal address: 3266 Bainbridge Ave, Bronx NY 10467, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this memorial is in New York City. It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in North America and the Western World. Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: A different marker also named Bronx River Soldier (a few steps from this marker); Valentine-Varian House (a few steps from this marker); Williamsbridge Oval (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Site of the Redoubt (approx. 0.4 miles away); Marcus Garvey Square (approx. 0.7 miles away); Gun Hill Playground (approx. Ύ mile away); LuEsther T. Mertz Library Building (approx. Ύ mile away); Mother Tree (approx. Ύ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Bronx.
Another marker is no longer nearby. Williamsbridge Square (was approx. 0.7 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
Also see . . . NYC Parks Profile for the Sculpture.
This granite statue of a Union soldier during the Civil War is by the Italian-born sculptor(Submitted on June 17, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.)John Grignola (18611912). The statue was originally commissioned by a Morrisania veterans group in the 1890s as a marker for Woodlawn Cemetery. However, it was damaged before delivery, and rejected.
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It was then purchased by John B. Lazzari, who ran a local tombstone quarry and monuments yard, and exhibited it on his property on the west bank of the Bronx River, just south of Gun Hill Road. Later, as local workers headed for a tapestry factory on the east embankment of the river, they damaged an adjacent footbridge held fast by a granite pier. Lazzari removed the bridge, and placed the statue on the granite pier in the middle of the river.
Decades later, the statue became unstable on its footing, and in 1964 it toppled into the river. The Parks Department rescued the sculpture and salvaged it. On August 21, 1970 the Parks monuments crew installed the statue on a new base at its present location on the grounds of historic Valentine-Varian House. The house itself had been moved across the street in 1965 to its current site next to the Williamsbridge Oval at Bainbridge Avenue and East 208th Street.
The Bronx River Soldier is a prototypical image of a Civil War soldier in military dress, with musket in hand, an image first defined by sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward (18301910) in his bronze Seventh Regiment Soldier, cast in 1869 and dedicated in Central Park in 1874. Today the secured Bronx River Soldier stands sentry beside this historic colonial house, built in 1758, and which now serves as the museum of the Bronx County Historical Society.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 17, 2025. It was originally submitted on June 17, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 155 times since then and 21 times this year. Photo 1. submitted on June 17, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
