The bronze sculpture, which rests on a granite base, is one of the city's eighteen Civil War monuments that were collectively listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

[3] On June 10, 1872, a congressional bill sponsored by Illinois Senator John A. Logan, who had served under Grant and admired Rawlins, was approved with $10,000 appropriated for the erection of the statue.

[3] The committee consisted of General Orville E. Babcock, Architect of the Capitol Edward Clark, and Librarian of Congress Ainsworth Rand Spofford.

The artist chosen was Joseph A. Bailly (1825–1883), a French-born American sculptor whose best known work is the 1869 statue of George Washington in Philadelphia.

They petitioned to have the statue moved to a more prominent location, 10th and D Streets NW, where it stood until a newspaper plant was built on that site.

In 1931, construction began on the National Archives Building and the statue was moved for the last time to its original location, Rawlins Park.

[7] In 1963, Wyoming Representative William H. Harrison unsuccessfully attempted to have the statue moved to Rawlins, a town named after the general.

The others are the Dupont Circle Fountain, Stephenson Grand Army of the Republic Memorial, Nuns of the Battlefield, the Peace Monument, and statues of Admiral David G. Farragut and CSA Brigadier General Albert Pike.

The statue depicts Rawlins standing while wearing his Civil War military uniform: a hat, long belted jacket, tall boots, and gloves.