Major General William Starke Rosecrans / Glacial Erratics

Side A: W.S. Rosecrans, soldier, engineer, architect and inventor, was born in Kingston Township in 1819. After graduation from West Point in 1842, he served in the Engineering Corps then taught at West Point. As a civilian, he engineered a river lock system and perfected lamp oil. During the Civil War, Rosecrans commanded Union Armies of the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Missouri, and developed a popular war-time ambulance. “Old Rosy” led his troops to victory at Iuka, Corinth, Stones River and Tullahoma. He helped raise $789,000 for soldiers’ relief and designed St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Columbus. He later served as Minister to Mexico, Registrar to the U.S. Treasury and as a Congressman from California. He died in 1898 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. “Stand by your flag and country, my men!”- Rosecrans at the Battle of Stones River, October 4, 1862 Side B: The base of this statue is a 40,000 pound glacial erratic pushed to central Ohio from Northern Ontario by the Wisconsin glaciers from 110,000 to 10,000 years ago. It is an igneous rock formed from ancient volcanic magma more than 2.5 billion years ago. It is one of the five largest glacial erratics in Ohio. Ohio’s largest crystalline erratic is located three miles east of Sunbury. This large, oval-shaped granite boulder is 22 feet long, 18 feet wide and 8 feet high with a circumference of 72 feet. The weight of the exposed portion of the erratic is about 200 tons.