Bridgeport, Connecticut’s Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument is among the most magnificent of the Civil War memorials along Long Island Sound. Set in wonderful Seaside Park, the monument is beautiful and moving. The park has three miles of coastline, set between Black Rock Harbor and Bridgeport Harbor. Directly north of Port Jefferson across the Sound, a ferry runs past every hour and visitors from Long Island can walk to the park easily from the ferry terminal. Interstate 95’s Exit 27A is just a few hundred yards from the entrance to the park. The Bridgeport train station is just a couple of blocks further away.
This is the largest Civil War monument in Connecticut, standing 54 feet tall and 21 feet wide.
The park is located near the 1644 settlement site of the first English colonists to live in the area. The Paugusset were the Native Americans who lived here before the European conquest. Farming and fishing were the occupations of most of the colonial settlers, as they had been for the indigenous people here. During the 1700s, nautical trade became increasingly important. Seaside Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, reflects the nautical orientation of the 19th Century City of Bridgeport.
Just north of the park, a Free Black community developed along Main Street in the early 1800s. In the 1830s, shipbuilding became an industry in the city and the Housatonic Railroad gave the city a link to the growing rail network in the North. Irish immigrants arrived to help build the new railroad, and by the late 1840s the Irish Great Hunger impelled many more to come to Bridgeport. The city’s population more than doubled between 1840 and 1850 due to industrialization and Irish immigration. By the start of the Civil War Bridgeport had four times as many people as it had just twenty years earlier.
The effort to create Seaside Park began during the Civil War in 1862 when The Standard newspaper published an editorial calling for a park on the waterfront site. By 1864, P.T. Barnum and others donated 35 acres for the new park. The park is now 375 acres. In 1866, a year after the war ended, efforts began to raise a memorial to the city’s Civil War soldiers and sailors. The site was seen as particularly appropriate because it was here that the 17th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry Regiment was initially trained.
The monument was dedicated in 1876, the Centennial of the United States. The statue at the top of the monument represents the United States holding a laurel victory wreath outstretched. Bronze statues of a soldier and sailor are at the sides. In the middle of them is a white statue representing Liberty. A quarter of a century ago the Liberty statue was not there because of its deterioration and vandalism. The one there now is a replacement.
Beneath Liberty is a plaque dedicating the monument with the closing lines of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The plaque is a replacement because several of the original plaques were stolen in the 1960s and 1970s.
Above the Gettysburg Address is an emblem of crossed flags, a regiment’s drum, cannons, and cannon balls.
On the left side is a sailor with a version of the United States Seal beneath him.
Here is a close-up of the Seal showing a cutlass, an anchor and chain and other symbols of the sea.
On the right side is an infantryman. You can see the statue of Liberty, symbolizing the end of slavery, behind him. This common soldier is strikingly realistic. The three bronze statues were created by Melzar H. Mosman, himself a veteran of the war.
Beneath him is the same Seal that is beneath the sailor.
On the sides of the statue are plaques with the names of units from Bridgeport and it environs and the names of men from the area who died in the war. You can see what I assume is an error in the first plaque. These were added in the 21st Century to replace stolen plaques. The plaques record approximately 180 local men killed in the war.
The monument was dedicated on August 17, 1876 in driving rain storm. Reverend Dr. Alexander R. Thompson gave the keynote speech in which he hailed the ending of slavery during the Civil War. Thompson said that the war had created “a nation of free people” with “millions of bondsmen set free.”
Here is a view from the back with the statue on top providing a perch for a seagull.
This is an illustration of the monument from over 100 years ago.
Here are some views of Seaside Park beyond the monument. We visited over the Halloween weekend. This selfie was taken about fifty feet from the monument with Bridgeport Harbor and Long Island Sound in the Background. I had had an operation the day before, so I might not have looked my best.
As you can see, the Sound is a significant feature of the view from the monument.
There are also beautiful stands of trees, very neatly landscaped.
The raised path along the Sound offers striking views of the busy seascape. A fair number of people were walking or jogging the path while we were there. In the photo below you can see the cannon looking out to sea.
While the cannon may look like a Civil War relic, it is in fact a trophy captured during the Spanish-American War.
This is the view Northeast of the monument.
Another look at the Sound.
We stopped to watch the sea birds.
And we took in the Naval Monument.
We also noticed a lot of folks fishing, something they have in common with the residents of Bridgeport in the 1860s.
Addendum:
These are the men whose names are on the plaques of the dead. These were found on the Historical Marker Data Base.
[ east plaque ]
1st Conn Cavalry
David Sherwood Andersonville July 18, 1864
Eugene Starkweather Sept 30 ’64
George Wagner Dec 21 ’65
Joseph Heaton Salisbury Dec 4 ’64
John Burke Feb 13 ’64
George Fallon Meadow Bridge May 12 ’64
John W. Clark Mar 15 ’65
Theodore Sterling Nov 30 ’63
2nd Conn Battery
Frederick Holmes White River Jan 4 ’65
Lyman A Clark Fort Gaines Aug 21 ’64
John Cary New Orleans Oct 11 ’64
Henry B Meyers Mobile Jun 26 ’65
John S Mills Blakely Apr 9 ’65
James O’Donnell New Orleans Oct 17 ’64
James B Ramsdell Feb 4 ’65
Francis Simpson New Orleans Oct 17 ’64
Charles B Whittiesey Dec 22 ’64
Tylee W Hartshorne Aug 1 ’63
James G Wood Wolf Run Shoals Apr 19 ’63
George H Hill New Orleans Feb 27 ’65
Edmund F Moody New Orleans Jul 20 ’64
1st Heavy Artillery
Ira S Wakefield Petersburg Apr 2 ’65
Edward J Carl Broadway Landing Aug 31 ’65
James Barry Feb 29 ’65
Thomas McMullen Broadway Landing Aug 31 ’64
Charles Taylor Fort Monroe Aug 22 ’62
William H Anderson Frederick Aug 4 ’63
Edgar Athington Feb 3 ’64
2nd Heavy Artillery
James Bradley Alexandria Jun 14 ’64
Lucius B Palmer Jun 9 ’64
Peter Reilly ’64
Joseph Cornell Annapolis Aug 19 ’64
Cornelius Goebe Mar 5 ’65
Seymour Lovdell Strasburg Nov 16 ’64
Charles Bennet Strausburg Oct 19 ’64
David Backus Winchester Nov 3 ’64
Thomas Doyle Winchester Sep 22 ’64
William Morton Mar 7 ’65
John Martin Cold Harbor Jun 1 ’64
Henry Tanner Cold Harbor Jun 1 ’64
John Pollard Hanover May 30 ’64
Frederick Slade Sept 24 ’64
John Thomas Feb 13 ’64
1st Conn Infantry
Theodore Morris Beaufort July 12 ’62
6th Conn Infantry
Charles H Grogan
north plaque
July 28 ’63
Patrick Deary Belle Island Nov 13 ’63
Harry Deipi Pocotaligo Oct 22 ’62
Michael Flynn Fort Wagner July 18 ’64
William M Kelly Nov 18 ’62
William S Lacey July 19 ’62
Alonzo Phillips Belle Island July 18 ’63
Albert W Stacey July 18 ’63
Edward B Taylor July 25 ’63
Thomas Taylor Pocotaligo Oct 23 ’62
Samuel C Thomas Aug 19 ’64
Robert B Gage Oct 12 ’62
John R Barney Washington Mar 15 ’65
Ambrose B Seymour Salisbury Oct 28 ’64
Patrick Fox Andersonville Nov 6 ’64
Gustave Schmidt Fort Wagner Aug 12 ’64
William Reed Morris Island July 18 ’63
Stephen S Stevens Morris Island July 18 ’63
Andrew Wnuk Belle Island July 18 ’63
[ north plaque ]
7th Conn Infantry
John Reed Andersonville Sept 17 ’64
Charles Dubois Chester Station May 14 ’64
Alexander Potocki Andersonville July 6 ’64
John Zabrowski Fort Monroe Sept 24 ’64
Daniel Morgan Jan 6 ’65
8th Conn Infantry
Charles Jones Fort Darling May 16 ’64
Melancthon S Lyon Hampton Mar 4 ’64
Charles H Lewis Sept 17 ’64
Albion D Brooks Jun 3 ’64
9th Conn Infantry
Patrick T Claffee New Orleans Oct 2 ’62
Michael McGratin Baton Rouge Aug 8 ’62
James Henderson New Orleans Dec 20 ’62
John Baggs Baton Rouge
west plaque
Aug 9 ’62
Jerimiah Wells Baton Rouge Aug 11 ’62
Charles B Burton Carrodon Sept 16 ’62
John Ennis Camp Parapet Oct 16 ’62
Nicholas Doyle Feb 23 ’63
Michael Fagan Ship Island Jan 11 ’62
Michael McGrath Baton Rouge Aug 3 ’62
William Fibbs New Orleans July 11 ’63
Michael Moore New Orleans Aug 19 ’62
Thomas O’Brien New Orleans Nov 16 ’62
Peter O’Connor New Orleans Aug 26 ’62
Dennis Otts New Orleans Nov 22 ’63
Peter Smith New Orleans Aug 26 ’62
Charles B Burton Carrollton Sept 16 ’62
James C Dimon New Orleans Sep 30 ’62
Henry Dessendorffer New Orleans June 29 ’63
William Funt New Orleans Oct 6 ’62
Luke C Lackey New Orleans Aug 27 ’62
Philip Pearson New Orleans Sept 3 ’63
John Coyne New Orleans July 13 ’62
Peter Keenan New Orleans July 20 ’63
Albert Alaby New Orleans Aug 16 ’62
Seth Robertson Vicksburg July 8 ’62
Frederick M Fairchild Vicksburg July 29 ’62
10th Conn Infantry
Julse LaSalle Petersburg Apr 2 ’65
George L.W. Williams Richmond Oct 2 ’64
Marcus Thomas Newberne May 10 ’64
Frederick Manchester Hatteras Inlet ’64
Henry Perkins Oct 24 ’63
Lawrence Lawless Petersburg Sept 7 ’64
11th Conn Infantry
Jeremiah Brady July 31 ’64
Frederick Faltix July 18 ’64
12th Conn Infantry
Ambrose Thompson July 22 ’63
John Mulloy Salisbury Jan 13 ’65
Herman Birch Camp Parapet Sept 28 “62
Joseph Bevans Cedar Creek Oct 19 ’62
James H Huribut Cedar Creek Oct 19 ’62
John C Wellman Apr 2 ’65
Charles H Wells Oct 21 ’65
William J Newell Port Hudson Jan 19 ’63
[ west plaque ]
13th Conn Infantry
Henry Robinson Aug 11 ’64
14th Conn Infantry
William H Hawley Aug 24 ’64
Alfred G Mollan Nov 24 ’62
Thaddeus W Lewis Antietam Sept 17 ’62
Michael Maddigan Antietam Sept 17 ’62
Franklin Bartlett Hatches Run Feb 5 ’65
George Carlock Fredericksburg Dec 13 ’62
William Jacobs Wilderness May 20 ’64
Henry Phillips Oct 20 ’64
Jesse H Ramsdell Richmond
Lucean W Hubbard Richmond
Alfred G Molan Nov 25 ’62
16th Conn Infantry
Samuel Johnson Roanoke Island May 27 ’64
17th Conn Infantry
Charles Walter Chancellorville May 2 ’63
William A Rogers Chancellorville May 2 ’63
Charles B Lewis Baltimore Aug 6 ’63
George R Hayes Baltimore Feb 5 ’64
Cassius M Crabbe Gettysburg July 1 ’63
John A Black Gettysburg July 1 ’63
Stephen Wagner Point Lookout Aug 9 ’64
James Dennis Picolata Mar 15 ’65
John F Lewis Beaufort Mar 11 ’64
Henry W Chatfield Feb 5 ’65Alvah E Wilcox July 6 ’63
William H Hawkhurst Washington Apr 26 ’63
18th Conn Infantry
Thomas F Jones Winchester June 15 ’63
23rd Conn Infantry
Charles Adams New Orleans July 17 ’63
Watson Mead New Orleans July 1 ’63
Adolph Keller Brashear City June 23 ’63
Frederick L Curtis Brashear City July 6 ’63
Henry L Dexter La Fourche June 7 ’63
24th Conn Infantry
Edward Keena New Orleans Aug 11 ’63
Henry Walters Ship Island Dec 7 ’63
29th Conn Infantry
George W Burr Richmond Oct 13 ’64
James Spriggs Oct 27 ’64
Martin Storms Aud 2 ’65
James Hawley Feb 20 ’64
George A Deming July 17 ’64
30th Conn Infantry
Andrew Marshall Apr 22 ’64
Misc
Wilson Hubbell 62 N.Y. Inf. Cold Harbor June 3 ’64
Richard R Crawford 7 U.S. Inf. Gettysburg July 2 ’63
Charles F Lendever 1 N.Y.M. Rifles Suffolk June 24 ’63
William H Lord 2 N.Y.H. Art May 6 ’65
Jonathan Mills 40 N.Y. Inf.
Martin G Vans 48 N.Y. Inf. Peterburg July 30 ’64
William A. Porter 66th N.Y. Inf. Harpers Ferry Nov 14 ’62
James Lennon 69 N.Y Inf. Malvern Hill July ’62
Andrew B Taylor 5 N.H. Inf. Andersonville July 16 ’64
Henry P Bostwick U.S.A. New Orleans Dec 31 ’62
U. S. Navy
William Brooks
Wheeler Sherman U.S. Gunboat Chenango Apr 16 ’64
James Burns U.S. Gunboat Narcissus
Frederick H Thompson U.S.S. New London Sept 5 ’63
George H Lounsbury U.S.S. Hartford July 24 ’62
Joseph Grogam U.S.S. Weehawken Charleston Harbor Dec 6 ’63
James McGregor U.S. Flagship Pensacola new Orleans Sept 24 ‘6
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