![Picture Connecticut: Memorials To The States Role In The Civil War | Keynote USA Picture Connecticut: Memorials To The States Role In The Civil War | Keynote USA](https://i0.wp.com/local.keynoteusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/img-0471___24140430520.jpg?resize=1170%2C987&ssl=1)
Connecticut — To commemorate Memorial Day, we celebrate tributes to Connecticut’s participation in the Civil War, both at home and on a crucial battlefield.
First, we see the monument erected in 1884 to the 14th Connecticut Regiment near the Gettysburg Stone Wall, where the unit fought for the Union on the third and decisive day of fighting. Photo courtesy of Joseph and Joshua Prignano, Connecticut residents.
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The inscription tells us that the 14th was fielded as part of the Army of the Potomac on September 7, 1862, and mustered out on May 31, 1865. In between, the 14th saw action in what now seems like an incredible number of many important conflicts, including not only Gettysburg, but also Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness Campaign, Spotsylvania, and Appomattox.
A total of 366 on the 14th gave what President Lincoln later called in a cemetery near the stone wall, “the last full measure of devotion.”
The Fourteenth Connecticut Monument at Gettysburg. (Jose Prignano)
We return to Connecticut and an officer who began the war on the 14th: Captain Thomas Burpee, who is honored each year on the Thursday before Memorial Day at his final resting place at Grove Hill Cemetery in Vernon.
That day, members of the Alden Skinner Camp No. 45 of the Sons of Union Civil War Veterans and the New England Civil War Museum place flags on the headstones of 145 local Civil War veterans buried in Grove Hill.
A service at Burpee’s grave follows. A wreath is placed on his tombstone and an honor guard fires a volley.
Museum archives tell us that Burpee (1830-1864) was born in Stafford, married Adeline Harwood in the early 1850s, and the couple had three children. The family was living in Vernon when the Civil War broke out and Burpee enlisted as a Captain in Company D on July 14, 1862, according to the museum.
He was transferred to the 21st Connecticut Infantry in September and quickly rose to major and then lieutenant colonel, according to museum records.
On June 5, 1864, Burpee was recommended for promotion to colonel, but four days later he was fatally wounded by a Rebel sharpshooter while inspecting pickets during the Battle of Cold Harbor. He died two days later without ever receiving the promotion from him.
Captain Thomas Burpee is honored each Memorial Day week. (Chris Dehnel/Patch)
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Picture Connecticut is a weekly series featuring images of the state, past and present. Here are past images:
2024
The Circus, Hartford
Amerbelle Spillway, Rockville
The ECSU Gallery, Willimantic
Great Captain’s Island, Greenwich
Bobblehead Madness, Storrs
Bobby Sands/Hunger Strike Memorial, Hartford
Mr. Jonathan goes to Hartford, Hartford
The latest discount airline, New Haven
State groundhog arrested, Manchester
Historical wartime sutures, Willington
Big Business Week in CT, statewide
The Market at Guilford Food Center Guilford
Main Street at night, Middletown
The Bear of Hide and Seek, Tolland
The MLK mural, Manchester
The summit of Mount Southington, Southington
2023
All religions meet in Town Park, Vernon
Riverside Igloos, Milford
The TPC Pro Shop, Cromwell
Santa’s House, North Pole, uh, Northern Connecticut
Mile 4 Funnel, Manchester Road Race, Manchester
UConn Lacrosse Giving Back, Connecticut River Valley
Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 3, Hartford
Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 2, Hartford
Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 1, Hartford
The Doughboy, East Hartford
Walt Whitman’s Stone, West Hartford
The Covered Plane, Hartford County
The Big Pink Chair, Ellington
The Notch, Granby
The CT 9/11 Memorial, Westport
Vintage petrol pump, Somers
Tobacco harvest, East Windsor
Late afternoon by the lake, Coventry
Fogarea, New Haven County
Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens, Washington Depot
Connecticut River Police Boat, Rocky Hill
The first dentist, Windsor.
The Frog Bridge, Willimantic
World War Bridge Rapids, Putnam
The Peeking Cow, Tolland County
The Ivy Lacrosse Tournament, New Canaan
The runway at Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks
The Underground Railroad, Unionville
The Cow Carousel, Ellington
Charles Island, Milford
State Veterans Cemetery, Middletown
Glastonbury-Rocky Hill Ferry, Glastonbury/Rocky Hill
The old county jail, Tolland
- And more
The Sunken Garden, Farmington
Lafayette Tour Monument, Vernon
The Pinchot Sycamore, Simsbury
Bob’s Discount Furniture Studios, Manchester
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