It was dedicated on July 4, 1887 in a large ceremony that included several notable guests of honor, such as General William Tecumseh Sherman, Colonel Robert Hale Ives Goddard, and the governors of both Connecticut and Rhode Island.

[7][8] In May 1883, the Building Committee commissioned sculptor Launt Thompson of New York City to design the monument, which was to be created by May 20, 1886.

[15] Meanwhile, Thompson's pedestal design was accepted by the committee, with some slight modifications from the committee's consulting architect William R. Walker, and created by architect Henry O. Avery of New York City,[15][note 1] with the location for the monument selected to be Exchange Place[1][14] (later renamed Kennedy Plaza).

[15] The marble for the pedestal was acquired from Frederick L. Mathewson's quarry in Burrillville, Rhode Island and was cut and prepared by Providence citizen Isaac M.

[18] All veterans living in Rhode Island were invited to attend, with free transportation and food provided.

[20] The statue was dedicated on July 4, 1887, in a ceremony that began with a procession at 10:30 a.m.[21] The procession included mounted police, the marshals for the event (of which Potter was the chief marshal), the Rhode Island Militia, and many veterans, including members of the Grand Army of the Republic.

[23] The parade marched through Providence and ended at the monument, where the American Band played an overture before Governor Davis was introduced to the crowd by Henry Rodman Barker.

[26] General Lewis Richmond then gave a short speech before unveiling the statue, which was accompanied by the American Band playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the crowd cheered.

[30] The ceremony ended with the Reverend Christopher Hughes giving a benediction and the band playing the "American Hymn".

[33] In December 1902, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed an act to relocate some monuments in Providence, including the Burnside statue.

[16] In July 2015, the city of Providence spent $13,500 in hiring Buccacio Sculpture Studios LLC of Natick, Massachusetts to restore the statue as part of a larger renovation of the Kennedy Plaza area.

[16] The statue depicts Burnside overlooking a battlefield, with binoculars in his right hand and the horse's reins in his left.

[38] Meanwhile, an 1891 article in The American Architect & Building News gave the following review: "Considering the character of the sculptor's previous work, this, his only piece of equestrian sculpture, is surprisingly good.

It is sober, dignified, well-composed and, though the modelling is commonplace and hardly bears examination, the whole monument is deserving of a much better site than has been accorded it, for it is pushed aside to one end of an irregular-shaped square near the railroad station, where it is hemmed about by cars, carriages and wagons; but the squalor and bustle of its surroundings do but enhance and make conspicuous the virtues of a quiescent pose in a public statue.

"[39] A 1965 catalogue from the Metropolitan Museum of Art states that many of Thompson's Civil War-related statuary, including the Burnside statue, were designed "in the heavy-handed, cast-iron, realistic style that prevailed between 1865 and 1895.