View complete article and references at Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina at: https://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/monument/417

Description: This monument was erected by the State of Connecticut Regimental Association to honor its Union soldiers fallen near New Bern in the Civil War. Carved from a single piece of granite in the form of a pylon, or possibly a truncated obelisk, the top of the 6-foot tall column is draped with the flag. The front face of the column features the bas-relief carving of the battle gear of the common soldier volunteer -- cap, canteen, blanket, and rucksack -- mounted over crossed rifles, with the graceful, somber drape of the flag covering the end of the rifle barrel on the right. Below this image, raised lettering names the 15th Connecticut Volunteers. The opposite face of the column bears the bas-relief carving of the armorial bearings of the State of Connecticut. Below it is a commemoration, in raised lettering, of those fallen in battle or from disease. The armorial bearings, or coat of arms, includes the Latin phrase Qui Transtulit Sustinet: He who transplanted sustains.

Inscription:
Base, front: 15TH CONN. VOLS.

Pylon face, rear: TO THE MEN WHO DIED OF / YELLOW FEVER IN 1864. / AND THOSE WHO FELL IN / ACTION BEFORE KINSTON / MARCH 8, 1865.

Dedication date: November 14, 1894

Creator: New England Granite Company, Unspecified

Materials & Techniques: Barre granite

Sponsor: State of Connecticut Regimental Association

Unveiling & Dedication: Veterans of the 15th Connecticut Volunteers, their guests, and U.S. Senator from Connecticut Orville Platt arrived by train for the unveiling and dedication. They were greeted, according to the New Bern Daily Journal, by "nearly every" Confederate and Union veteran living in the area. They were escorted to City Hall where they were welcomed by their North Carolina hosts, General Cullen A. Battle and the Mayor of New Bern. The main address of the dedication was given by Senator Platt. Inclement weather required the ceremony to be moved from the cemetery to the courthouse, and afterward a large group of Union and Confederate veterans joined together to decorate the monument with flowers.

Subject notes: The 15th regiment was formed on August 18, 1862, one of the first county regiments organized in Connecticut. In the summer and fall of 1864, the infantry faced the most number of causalities of their service in the war. The monument honors the men who died in combat at Kinston in March of 1865, as well as about 70 men who died of disease at New Bern. Although the monument specifically notes yellow fever, Sheldon B. Thorpe, a retired sergeant from Company K, noted in his history of the Connecticut regiment that the soldiers honored by the monument and buried in the cemetery also died of other diseases of camp and hospital (p. 333).

New Bern National Cemetery was established in 1867. Union dead buried at other locations in North Carolina were subsequently moved to the National Cemetery following its establishment. The Connecticut Monument at New Bern was the first of four monuments to be sponsored by Union states that sent soldiers to North Carolina during the Civil War. The New Jersey Monument, the Massachusetts Monument, and the Rhode Island Monument are also located in the cemetery.

Location: The monument is located in the southwestern corner of section 13 on the south side of the central drive through the cemetery. The cemetery is located off National Avenue.

Landscape: The monument sits in the grass covered grounds surrounded by rows of small white grave markers.

City: New Bern

County: Craven

Subjects: Civil War