The Lenox and Canastota Tribute to Their Heroes Monument is in Canastota. The location of the monument is at the intersection of South Peterboro Street (New York State Route 13) and Seneca Turnpike ( Route 5). The village is east of Syracuse. Lenox is the town that Canastota is in and the Civil War monument here is dedicated to the men from both the village and the town.
The Oneida Nation owned Lenox until Americans pushed them out after the Revolution. Until 1820, there were only four houses in Canastota, but the town grew rapidly beginning in 1820 when the Erie Canal was dug through it. By 1831, there were over 400 people living there. By 1860 the Town of Lenox had over 8,000 people living in it. Today there are 8,768 living there. So the town grew rapidly before the Civil War, but its growth leveled off soon thereafter.
Although the village is small, the Civil War monument is fairly large. A ceremonial gate says it is FOR ALL WHO SERVED. While the park was originally set up to honor those who served in the Civil War it has subsequently had other memorials erected to later wars. On either side of the gate are two Civil War mortars.
While the monuments are well-maintained and are frequent scenes of community commemorations, there is very little at the site explaining the monument and the history of the village and town during the Civil War. There is also just a few mentions of the site on-line.
The mortars are in very good shape for ordinance that is 160 years old. There is even a cannon ball inside of one of them.
During the lead up to the Civil War, Canastota had a reputation as a center of Abolitionism. In September of 1852 there was a national convention of the Liberty Party where speeches were made by abolitionists Gerrit Smith, Jermain Loguen and Frederick Douglass, all from the Upstate New York area. Gerrit Smith was a wealthy backer of Abolitionism from nearby Peterboro. Jermain Loguen was a Black man who led the Underground Railroad in Syracuse. Frederick Douglass, who needs no introduction, lived in Rochester. Frederick Douglass’ Paper reported on the convention.
Chauncey Barnes Reese came from Canastota. He had graduated from West Point and he was a lieutenant in the Regular Army in 1860. He was stationed at Fort Gaines on Mobile Bay in January of 1861 when the fort’s surrender was demanded by the Alabama militia. Reese, heavily outnumbered, surrendered. During the war, Reese was a highly regarded engineer. At Gettysburg he assisted General Warren in collecting men to defend Little Round Top. He became chief engineer of the Army of the Tennessee during Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign. After the war, he was stationed again at Mobile Bay where he was stricken with Yellow Fever and died in 1869 at only 33 years of age. His body was brought back to Canastota and buried there. After he died, the local Post of the Grand Army of the Republic was named in his honor.
Past the gate is a nice path to the monument.
The centerpiece in this memorial is the statue of a Civil War soldier marching. Erected in 1907, it is on a short base with a plinth rising above it. The statue of a common soldiers is life size.
While the entire park is well maintained and the statue, base, and plinth are in very good shape, the village should give some attention to the tree immediately behind the monument with branches obscuring the statue.
The park has been converted from a pure Civil War memorial to now honor veterans of all wars, bit the front face still is dedicated to the Civil War.
In the middle of the front face of the monument is inscribed:
1861 1865
Lenox and Canastota’s
Tribute to Their Heroes.
Erected A.D. 1907
Between the dates of the war is the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) medal. The Grand Army of the Republic was a national organization of Civil War veterans. Every year on Memorial Day the GAR would assemble, march down the streets, and hold commemorative services at the local cemeteries where, according to a local paper from 1907, more than 150 veterans were buried.
On the right side of the monument are the dates of the Revolution and the War of 1812. On the left side are the dates of the Mexican War and the Spanish-American War.
There are seven flags at the park and nearly everything is in perfect condition, but putting some explanatory signage or a link using a QR code would make this more meaningful.
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