Franz Sigel (1824-1902) fled to St. Louis from Germany after the unsuccessful revolution of 1848. A popular brigadier general in the Union Army, he commanded Missouri troops, many of whom were Germans.

The inscription on the base of the statue says: "To remind future generations of the heroism of German-American patriots in St. Louis and vicinity in the Civil War of 1861-1865. General Franz Sigel."

The equestrian statue, by German sculptor Robert Cauer, is of bronze on a granite pedestal. It was unveiled on June 23, 1906. This statue and the casting of General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben in Tower Grove Park; the statue of Martin Luther at Concordia Seminary; and the bust of Friedrich Jahn in Forest Park were all cast at the Lauchhammer Foundry in Lauchhammer, Germany.