Connecticut's Civil War Monuments

 
 

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Old Saybrook

VETERANS AND COMRADES MONUMENT, Old Saybrook
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  VETERANS AND COMRADES MONUMENT

Riverside Cemetery
Sheffield Street
Old Saybrook, CT

Dedicated: Date unknown
Type: Tan granite stele
Height: 7', 6"

Historical Significance

VETERANS AND COMRADES MONUMENT, Old Saybrook, is significant historically because it memorializes men from the community who served in the Civil War. No information has come to hand on the history of the monument.

Artistic Significance

VETERANS AND COMRADES MONUMENT, Old Saybrook, is a relatively plain shaft or column without design features of note. The rounded pyramidal top is unusual, but other components of the design are plain.

Description

VETERANS AND COMRADES MONUMENT, Old Saybrook, is located about 150 yards inside the main gateway of Riverside Cemetery at the center of an intersection of the roadway from the gate with a crossroad. It is surrounded by 4'-high evergreen shrubbery. A flagpole is in back of the monument, within the traffic circle. The monument is a 2'-square tan granite shaft dedicated to those from Old Saybrook who served in the Civil War.

The lower portion of VETERANS AND COMRADES MONUMENT is partially visible at the back through a break in the shrubbery. It has a smooth plinth under a quarry-faced band which is the base of the shaft. The corners of the shaft are chamfered and its top takes the shape of a rounded pyramid. The lettering recorded below is largely obscured by the shrubbery. (See COMRADES MONUMENT, New London, for another instance of the use of the word comrades.)

Lettering

Front (southwest) inclined surface of base of shaft, raised polished numerals:

1861-1865

    Above, face of shaft, slightly raised polished caps:

ERECTED BY THE VETERANS / OF OLD SAYBROOK

    Above, slightly larger raised caps:

IN MEMORY
OF OUR COMRADES
WHO SERVED
IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION

A conventional more contemporary low gray granite marker with inclined top surface is placed in front of the evergreens which surround the monument. The inclined surface is incised with caps reading VETERANS MEMORIAL, over crossed flags.