New Preston honors its Civil War veterans with a monument in New Preston Village Cemetery.
The undated monument stands near the Baldwin Hill Road entrance to the cemetery, which is in the New Preston section of Washington.
A dedication on the monument’s east face reads, “A memorial to the soldiers who served faithfully and honorably in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Erected by a comrade, Major Walter Burnham.”
A small cannon has been mounted near the east side of the monument’s base.
The monument’s west face lists 23 Civil War veterans buried in the cemetery.
Information about the monument’s designer or supplier hasn’t come to light.
Walter Burnham, a local carriage and wagon manufacturer, sponsored the monument. Burnham served in the Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery regiment, and was wounded during the 1864 Battle of Cedar Creek (in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.)
The steeple visible to the west of the cemetery belongs to the New Preston Congregational Church.
Tags: New Preston, Washington