August Bloedner

Biography

August Bloedner, a German-born soldier in the Union Army's 32nd Indiana Infantry, carried both his soldier's oath and his skill with stone to the battlefield. Shortly after the rolling hills witnessed the first great struggles of the Civil War, he carved the Bloedner Monument to honor the men of his company, creating what is regarded as the earliest memorial to that conflict.

He spent his later years near Vine Street Hill Cemetery, where his own graceful workmanship now rests, and his quiet dedication to comrades-in-arms endures in the memorial that bears his name.