Union soldiers at attention in front of the Capitol <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/303">Union soldiers</a> monopolized the spaces of the National Mall during the Civil War. At the outset of the war the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/59">US Capitol</a> was a work-in-progress. Despite the war Congress pushed for its completion as a symbol that the ideal of a United States would transcend the disunion of the war years. However, early in the war, construction halted as <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/304">Union troops occupied the building</a>. With their eviction in 1862, construction resumed. Statues and forts around the city raised gun salutes for the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/534">installation of the statue</a> on top of the dome in 1863. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2009631455/">View Original</a>. 05/13/1861 <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1860-1889">1860-1889</a>