The First Civil War Monument - Lancaster, Wisconsin
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iconions
N 42° 50.866 W 090° 42.598
15T E 687120 N 4746453
This series of monuments consist of eight short and one tall marble monument and one metal sign. These are located at the northeastern grounds of the Grant County Courthouse - 126 West Maple Street in Lancaster, Wisconsin.
Waymark Code: WM12MP4
Location: Wisconsin, United States
Date Posted: 06/16/2020
Views: 1
Popular subscription for this Civil War monument was started on September 16, 1862 and completed with public funds. The monument was dedicated on July 4, 1867 “and to the memory of the brave soldiers of Grant County who fell in defense of universal liberty in the great rebellion of A.D. 1861.
- Official Website of Lancaster, Wisconsin
My Commentary
The eight short stones list the casualties of the area and the Regiments they were enlisted. Originally, there were old cannons and stacked cannonballs as part of this memorial - these were removed as part of the WWII scrap drive. The 26' foot tall marble obelisk is topped with an eagle perched on an orb with a wreath in its mouth. The inscriptions on the main shaft read:
Front:
We here highly resolve that these honored dead shall not have died in vain that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.
Right:
Dedicated to the memory of the brave soldiers of Grant County who fell in defense of Universal Liberty in the Great Rebellion of A. D. 1861.
This marble contains their names, the many bloody battlefields of the South contain their bodies, their memories forever enshrined in the hearts of their countrymen.
Dedicated July 4, 1867
Reverse:
I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves ......... are, and henceforward shall be free.
Left:
Go, stranger, to your country tell For her we fought, were buried where we fell.
The metal sign text reads:
The First Civil War Monument
Popular subscription for this Civil War Monument was started on September 16, 1862 and completed with public funds. The monument was dedicated on July 4, 1867 "... to the memory of the brave soldiers of Grant County who fell in defense of universal liberty in the great rebellion of A.D. 1861."
Rededicated July 4, 1967
Grant County Historical Society
Civil War monuments at the northeast corner of the square include eight small freestanding monuments surrounding one large vertical monument. These monuments, dedicated on 4 July 1867, together comprise Wisconsin Registered Landmark No. 47, "First Civil War Monument," and are identified by a large plaque.
The nine-element Civil War monument in the northeast corner of the square, identified as Wisconsin Registered Landmark No. 47, is an extremely early such monument. A subscription for its construction began in 1862 and construction was completed in 1867.
- National Register Application
In the southwest corner of Wisconsin, in Grant County, the city of Lancaster was also raising money to erect a Civil War memorial. In total, $6,486.37 was raised (more than $100,000 in today’s dollars) to erect one of Wisconsin’s most unique memorials, designed by S.D. Wright of Whitewater. Contemporary accounts describe it as “the Mecca of the friends of the Patriotic dead of Grant County.” Credit for “originating the enterprise and pressing it thro’, amid all discouragements” was given to George R. Laughton of Lancaster.
The memorial, placed on the grounds of the Grant County courthouse, is a 26-foot high Vermont marble shaft, upon which is mounted an eagle holding a laurel wreath in its beak. Elaborate engravings on all sides of the memorial honor the community’s Civil War soldiers. The shaft is surrounded by eight columns, into which are engraved the names of “all Grant County officers and soldiers who died during their term of service, amounting in all to about 750 names.”
- Recollection Wisconsin
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