"The American Civil War Memorial, also known as the Scottish-American Soldiers Monument, was dedicated on 21 August 1893 to Scots who fought and died in the American Civil War. Depicting a standing figure of Abraham Lincoln, with a freed slave giving thanks at his feet, it is a focal point of the burial ground, located just in front of Hume’s tomb.
It is the only monument to the American Civil War outside the United States and was the first statue to a US President outside her own borders. It is the only statue of Lincoln in Scotland.
Sculptures were by George Edwin Bissell and stonework by Stewart McGlashan & Son. A bronze shield bears the old US flag, and is wreathed in thistles to the left, and cotton to the right. Two regimental flags lie furled, the battle being over. The black man holds a book, indicating that he is not only free, he is also now educated. The monument was erected at American expense to a small group of Scots (only one of whom, William Duff, is buried under the monument, the rest being nearby) to whom it felt indebted, and wished their graves to be marked, despite their later poverty. They had all fought for the Union (the North) in the American Civil War. The inscription, 'To preserve the jewel of liberty in the framework of Freedom' is a quotation from the writings of Abraham Lincoln.
Those interred and commemorated are:
- Sergeant Major John McEwan, Company H, 65th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry
- Lt Col William L. Duff, 2nd Regiment Illinois Volunteer Light Artillery (died of wounds on return to Edinburgh)
- Robert Steedman, Company E, 5th Regiment Maine Volunteer Infantry
- James Wilkie, Company C, 1st Regiment Michigan Volunteer Cavalry
- Robert Ferguson, Company F, 57th New York Volunteer Infantry
- Alexander Smith, Company G, 66th Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry (this name was added in 1993 following research)
The following appears in the Town Council records
Act of Council 32, Edinburgh 1st Sept 1892
The Magistrates and Council having on a letter from the United States Consul (Mr Wallace Bruce) of 25 July 1892. Signified their approval of a proposal made by him that a burying place should be provided for certain old pensioned American soldiers in the Old Calton burying ground, the Plans and Works Committee acting under remit with powers, beg to report that they have fixed, as a site, a piece of ground 14 feet by 14 feet or thereby, in the Old Calton Burial Ground about 16 feet or thereby north of David Hume’s monument.
It was the widow of Sgt Major McEwan who originally initiated the request by writing a letter of complaint to the United States government."
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Calton_Burial_Ground#Scottish-American_Soldiers_Monument