I was happy to be in New Hampshire for the 2024 New Hampshire Primary, less so for the politicians and more so to photograph the newly restored Soldiers and Sailors Civil War Monument in Veterans Memorial Park right across from the Doubletree Hotel where all the contenders for the office of President stay!
The monument was first unveiled in 1879. I have been coming up to the primary since 1980, the 100th Anniversary of the monument. It has been fairly well maintained over the years that I have been visiting, but a few years ago the fountain for the memorial stopped working and some of the granite stones for the fountain showed marked deterioration. For the last two years, the city has been in a major restoration for the edifice and in the Spring of 2023 the work was completed and a rededication was held.
I went to photograph the monument on a snowy, cold afternoon in which the temperature never got above 15 degrees, so of course the fountain was turned off, but I was really impressed by the tremendous work done on this relic from the age where most veterans of the Civil War were still alive.
Like many dedication days for many Union monuments across the North, J.W. Patterson’s speech gave honor to the soldiers who had fought for Union and who had destroyed slavery in the United States. Patterson said that the North would seek the “cordial and conciliatory intercourse of kindred…” but he said, the North would insist on “all rights of citizenship” be maintained by a firm and impartial administration of law. The Civil War was not, Patterson said, an offspring of the oppression of the white race of the South, it was the result of a deliberate effort “to withdraw the states cultivated by slave-labor from the jurisdiction of the national government and to organize them into a separate confederation, based upon that institution for its protection.” The war’s emancipation lifted up from slavery a portion greater than the entire population of the United States at the time of the Revolutionary War. This then is what the deeds of the men who fought for the Union did, according to Patterson.
The dedication on the monument says; “In Honor of the Men of Manchester Who Gave Their Services In The War Which Preserved The Union Of The States And Secured Equal Rights To All Under The Constitution This Monument Is Built By A Grateful City.” The monument explicitly sets forth Emancipation and Union as the goals of the war effort. It also says that the war “secured” equal rights, something that was only achieved by the war.
The committee to control the building of the monument was set up on July 3, 1877. A contest was held and a design submitted by George Heller of Hartford, Connecticut won. The bronze statues were cast at the Maurice J. Power foundry in New York. On May 30, 1878 the cornerstone was lain. During the ceremony of the cornerstone, it was noted that 1,584 Manchester men went into the Union Army and that 182 died during the war. The G.A.R. Post Commander James M. Cummings spoke saying that the war was to blot out a national sin, not just a sin of the South, but of the entire nation. He said “The first gun fired on Fort Sumter was but the voice of God speaking to the American people…that the vengeance of heaven was about to fall on the heads of a nation that had for a century winked at human bondage.” The Civil War allowed America to “make freedom a fact to all men.” Cummings told his audience that “we must make permanent the victory won on the field of battle, in the building up and strengthening the principles of justice and human rights…”
The monument is surrounded by a metal fence, inside of which is a pool fed by water from the fountain. Four ordinary Union defenders are depicted in statuary. They are lit by lights surmounted by American Bald Eagles. Below is an artilleryman.
Here is the rear view of the monument. You can see the fence, the pool, the light fixture, the four statues of the warriors, the frieze, the pillar, topped with the goddess of Victory.
The pillar has these words in Latin; Et Decorium est pro Patria mori Dulce. (It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country). Perhaps a little too cavalier in sentiment for those grieving the loss of a son or husband or father.
The brass frieze has been restored magnificently. Here we can see an officer take his leave of his lover with really heartbreaking sadness in her eyes.
We can see the artillery man standing in front of this scene on the frieze. unlike the other four statues, this one has a symbolic tool of his trade at his feet, a cannon.
Many of the images on the frieze show soldiers going off to war.
The soldier dressing at his work will soon be joining the soldiers marching away.
The new soldier is saying goodbye to his father, a blacksmith.
Nearby is a color bearer and a drummer boy.
An the pillar is a symbolic display of state regiments’ battle flags, muskets, swords, mortars, cannon balls, a drum, a slouch hat, a canteen, and a cartridge box. There are also laurel leaves symbolizing victory. The shield below has “1846” because that is when Manchester became a city.
You can see in the photo above that there are lions’ heads that spit water in less freezing weather.
The restored infantryman seems particularly realistic. His face looks concerned about what he sees in the distance.
The next scene on the frieze shows four men marching away, with one waving goodbye to a family he might never see again.
You can see behind him is a Zouave. Behind him is a small boy desperate to hand something to the waving soldier.
If you visit, you might bring field glasses with you to see the tiny details in the frieze.
There is a useful sign to credit the restorers of the monument. The city spent a quarter of a million dollars on it over the last two years.
Here is the statue of a cavalryman.
I took this picture to show the detail of the sculptures. Here, even the top of his cap looks like a real kepi. The straps and visor are visible as is the 1st New Hampshire Cavalry on top.
Another of the lights that brighten this at night.
A sailor is the last of the statues.
Behind is the frieze, showing a father taking leave of his young son. The son will have to step up to work the farm.To his right is the unspeakable sadness of the woman parting from her lover.
As you can see in the photo below, the different elements combine to propel the narrative of the monument.
The sailor or landsmen seems to be older than the other men in the statuary group.
Above it all stands Victory. She has a crown of laurels to mark victory over slavery.
Her you can see the front of the monument from Elm Street, the main avenue in Manchester. It is in front of a modern courthouse.
The monument is in Veterans Memorial Park at 899 Elm Street, Manchester, New Hampshire.
In 1860, Manchester had over 20,000 people living there. This made it slightly smaller than Savannah, Georgia. Anyone who walks down by the Merrimack River on the west side of town will be struck by the number of mills that used the river as a power source. By the time of the Civil War, Manchester had large textile mills utilizing cotton grown in the South. Beginning in the 1840s, many of the mill workers were immigrants, with French Canadians being the largest group and Irish also coming in large numbers. Many of these enlisted in the Army during the war and their organizations marched in the procession to dedicate the monument.
The pillar is fifty feet high. On top is an eight foot statue of Victory.
Daniel Clark told the audience on the day of the dedication that: “The war is over and peace has come. The rebellion has been crushed and slavery, which incited and envenomed the contest, has perished in the struggle. … But with the coming of peace, there have not returned to us many of the noble men who went forth to battle. …The sound of their returning footfalls has not been heard.”
Clark said that: “We would not have them neglected, or forgotten, or overlooked. …[T]his monument…[is] a shrine in which shall be treasured the precious recollection of all that these men, living and dead, have braved, suffered, and endured.”
The monument is free to visit, both day and night.
Nearby there are a number of places to enjoy a meal. The Red Arrow Diner is a one hundred and two year old landmark. It is at 61 Lowell St, Manchester, NH just a five minute ride from the monument. I had a great steak sandwich and my son enjoyed his poutine, brought down by French Canadian immigrants, no doubt.
Another place my son likes when we go to New Hampshire is an Irish pub. He is autistic and he loves the friendly service and the sometimes live Irish music. It is the Shaskeen Irish Pub at 909 Elm Street in Manchester.
All color photos were taken by Pat Young unless otherwise noted. To see more sites Pat visited CLICK HERE for Google Earth view.
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I live in Hudson, right across the river from Nashua which also has a worthy monument. I shall have to take time to visit the one in Manchester.
I visited the Nashua monument last weekend and I will try to post on it in a couple of months.
Wow, thanks so much for filming & posting this video.