Colchester honors the service of its Civil War veterans with an 1875 monument on the town green.
The town’s Union monument stands near the northern end of the green, just south of where Main Street (Route 85) meets Hayward Avenue and Lebanon Avenue (Route 16).
A dedication on the granite monument’s front (south) face reads, “Colchester honors its dead who fell in the War for the Union, 1861-5.”
The south face also features a shield with the United States and Connecticut emblems, and an inscription reading, “Not ours but the nation’s.”
The east and west faces both bear honor rolls listing a total of 44 residents who died in the Civil War. The south faces lists the dedication date of September 17, 1875 (the anniversary of the Battle of Antietam).
The monument’s decorative elements include arches on the four faces as well as carved cannons in the corners of its base.
The figure atop the monument is, unusual among Connecticut’s Civil War memorials, depicted looking down instead of forward. The figure, holding his hat waist-high, perhaps appears to be mourning his fallen colleagues. The figure’s left foot extends slightly beyond the monument’s base.
The monument is the work of sculptor George E. Bissell, a Civil War veterans who also created elaborate monuments in Winchester, Salisbury and Waterbury.
Tags: Colchester