As someone has observed, I made many stops this summer to photograph Civil War monuments while I was travelling. These are monuments erected in villages and cities far from the battlefields to remember the war and those from the community who served. This photo tour is of the monument in Stamford, Connecticut. Unlike many of the other days I got to take pictures, it was not raining on this particular Summer day.
Stamford is a large and financially vibrant “Edge City” today, just 35 miles from Manhattan. At the time of the Civil War, the population of Stamford was 7,200, today it is 135,470. The area was first settled by Puritans in 1641 and it remained a rural village focused on agriculture until the late 1840s. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad made Stamford a scheduled station stop and hundreds of Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Hunger sought refuge and work there. The population in Stamford doubled between 1840 and 1860. The Irish faced discrimination and poverty in the decade before the Civil War, but they slowly established churches, schools, and other community institutions. When the war came, they enlisted in the Union Army alongside the native-born.
Also unlike many of the other monuments I took pictures of, this monument was not exclusively dedicated to Civil War soldiers. It was unveiled in 1920 and is dedicated to veterans from “1641-1918.” While there are some references to those who served in the Colonial Wars, the Revolution, War of 1812, Mexican War, and the Spanish-American War, most space on the monument is given over to World War I and the Civil War.
The monument is classical, with Corinthian columns. It is also quite large. It’s design was in imitation of the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates. That monument in Athens, Greece was erected more than 2,000 years ago. Here is what the original looks like today.
Early in the war, men from Stamford formed Company D of the Sixth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. Company G of the 10th Connecticut drew heavily from Stamford as well. I looked through a memorial book about the Stamford men in the Civil War and found some in the 28th Connecticut, the 6th, the 13th, and the 17th, as well as some who enlisted in New York regiments.
The Civil War section has the names of battles cut into it. At the base is a plaque with the names of men from Stamford who served during the war.
Here you can see the 1861-1865 battles that are memorialized. Most are battlefields in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. “Hampton Roads” refers to the 1862 battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac in Hampton Roads, Va.
The base of the monument displays five plaques listing the names of those from Stamford who served in wars going back to Colonial times. Civil War names are listed on two of the plaques. Here are the names from S to Z.
The monument was dedicated on November 11, 1920, Armistice Day commemorating the end of World War I. The photo below shows that ceremony 102 years ago.
Wow…incredible!!