A 32-foot column in a park at the intersections of Elm Street and Broadway in New Haven honors the service of four Connecticut regiments in the Civil War.
The column, topped by a bronze eagle and flanked by two granite soldiers, was dedicated on June 16, 1905, to honor three infantry regiments and an artillery regiment.
A dedication on the front (south) face on the monument reads: “Erected by the joint contributions of the state of Connecticut and the Veteran Associations of 1st Conn. Light Battery and 6th, 7th and 10th Conn. Vols. as a sacred and perpetual memorial to men who suffered and died that the republic might live: 1861-1865.”
Beneath this dedication, a bronze plaque honors the 10th Conn. Volunteer Infantry, which participated in 51 engagements between Sept. 1861 and Sept. 1865. Among the 1,879 soldiers who enrolled in the regiment, there were 1,011 casualties. The bottom of the plaque bears the inscription “Safe and happy the republic whose sons gladly die in her defense.”
On the east side of the monument, a figure depicts an infantry soldier reaching into an ammunition bag. On the base beneath his feet, a bronze plaque honors the Seventh Connecticut Volunteers infantry regiment, who participated in battles in South and North Carolina and Georgia, as well as “13 other engagements.”
The west side of the monument features a figure depicting an artilleryman scanning the horizon while holding a ramrod in his left hand. A plaque beneath this figure honors the 1st Conn. Light Battery, which served between Oct. 1861 and June 1865. Major engagements cited on the plaque include the siege of Charleston, and the Richmond and Petersburg campaigns in Virginia.
A plaque on the south side of the monument commemorates the 6th Conn. Volunteer Infantry, which served between Sept. 1861 and August 1865. The regiment had a total enrollment of 1,608 and suffered 807 casualties during engagements in Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia.
The vintage postcard below carries a 1909 postmark, and was mailed to Jamaica, New York. The fountain and the reddish street furniture in the foreground have been removed from the park.
A booklet commemorating the monument’s dedication ceremonies is available on the Internet Archive.
The pile of stones in the northwest corner of the park marks the number of military and civilian deaths in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every month, the number of deaths is painted on a stone that is added to the pile.
Just north of the Civil War monument is Christ Church, which was built in 1895. A monument outside the south side of the church is dedicated to George Brinley Morgan, who became pastor of the church in 1878. Rev. Morgan was killed in a motor car accident in 1908, which was likely not yet a common cause of death in that era.
Source:
Connecticut Historical Society: Civil War Monuments of Connecticut
Tags: New Haven