Connecticut's Civil War Monuments

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Lebanon Green
Intersection of SR 207 and SR 87
Lebanon, CT

Erected: 1922
Type: Cobblestone pedestal with bronze sculpture and tall flagpole
Sculptor: Bruce Wilder Saville
Foundry: T.F. McCann Sons
Mason: Charles Perkins
Height: Cobblestone base, 8 1/2'; flagpole, unknown

MEMORIAL TO FIVE WARS, Lebanon, is significant historically because it is a tangible symbol of the community's honor and respect paid to those who served. First reference to the memorial in the town records appears in the minutes of the town meeting of May 31, 1922, at which the selectmen were authorized to secure a bronze tablet at $300. Since Saville's signature includes the year date 1921, question arises as to whether the May 31, 1922, authorization was to confirm action already taken, or whether Wilder supplied to Lebanon a piece already on hand. In any event, a July 1, 1922, town meeting voted an additional $600 toward erecting tablets, which presumably paid Perkins for the masonry work.

The monument was built at the same time as a new high school on the same site. The school has now been replaced by the present town hall.

The thoughtful composition of the wording on the plaques gives distinction to the Lebanon MEMORIAL TO FIVE WARS. The reference to the wars as "periods" is perhaps unique. The Mexican War is noticeable by its absence. Use of the term Spanish War for the more customary Spanish-American War also occurred at the Thompson CIVIL AND SPANISH WARS PLAQUE.

MEMORIAL TO FIVE WARS, Lebanon, is significant artistically because it is executed in fashionable contemporary masonry and incorporates sculpture by a leading artist. The mason, Charles Perkins, was a local contractor. He built the monument for his town in the Rustic style, in line with best accepted practice of the 1920s. His use of vertical gneiss blocks in the base is unusual but effective. The work has held up well over the years, with minor cracks in the mortar the only signs of aging.

Bruce Wilder Saville (1893-1938) was born in Quincy, Massachusetts. He studied at the famous Boston Normal Art School (see the career of Hartford architect Melvin H. Hapgood) and under the Kitsons, Mrs. T.A.G. Kitson being the sculptor of The Hiker, multiple casts of which celebrate the Spanish-American War in dozens of cities. In addition to other works, Saville sculpted many pieces related to wars, including three Civil War memorials at Vicksburg, Mississippi; Memorial Tablet to Unknown Dead, Quincy, Massachusetts; Canadian Infantryman, St. John's, New Brunswick; and Memorial to 104th Infantry, Westfield, Massachusetts.

It is significant that in this instance the names of the mason contractor, sculptor, and bronze foundry all are known.

MEMORIAL TO FIVE WARS, Lebanon, is a cobblestone pedestal supporting a tall flagpole. A bronze plaque is recessed into each face of the pedestal. The monument is located in the center of Lebanon Green, in front of the Town Hall and across the street from the First Congregational Church.

The base of the pedestal is built of gneiss laid in vertical blocks, with those at the corners projecting 2", and with a top horizontal stone projecting to terminate the base. The base is surrounded by shrubbery, but the vegetation is well separated from the masonry by a gravel walk.

Three of the four 30" x 20" bronze plaques carry lettering relating to the Revolutionary War, War of l812, Civil War, Spanish War, and World War I. The lettering is in thoughtful narrative form, quite different from the standard memorial language often found on such plaques.

The fourth plaque is a bas-relief by Bruce Wilder Saville depicting a composite of three soldiers, one from the Revolutionary War, one from the Civil War, and one from World War I, and a flag. The figure to the group's far right is from the Revolutionary War; he carries a musket on his shoulder. The central figure is a doughboy from World War I; he uses both hands to grasp his rifle. The third man is in Civil War uniform; he carries the colors. The flag opens out above the three soldiers; its staff continues to the group's left on the diagonal to the upper left corner of the plaque, distorting the right angle of the corner as the tip of the pole continues upward.

A bronze plaque on a stone slab at the northeast corner of the Green lists names of those who served in World War I and World War II.

North plaque, incised caps:

South plaque, raised caps:

    Below:

West plaque:

East plaque:

Glenn P. Opitz, ed., Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers (Poughkeepsie, NY: Apollo Books, 1986), pp. 814 and 815.

Alicia Wayland, Lebanon Municipal Historian, conversation, April 7, 1994.