Connecticut's Civil War Monuments

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East Hartland Cemetery
27 Granville Road
East Hartland in Hartland, CT

Erected: ca.1870?
Type: Brownstone obelisk
Height: 8', 11"

BANNING AND ROWE MONUMENT, East Hartland in Hartland, is significant historically because of the poignant story its lettering tells of two volunteers who survived capture, in the same action, in the spring of 1864 only to die in the autumn of non-battle-related causes. The final sentiment under ROWE suggests that his widow may have been instrumental in raising the monument. Contact with local sources failed to elicit information about erection of the monument. The date of ca.1870s is conjecture; the phrase THIS UNHOLY REBELLION opens the possibility that the war was not over when the monument was put in place.

See BROOKS MONUMENT, Haddam, for a memorial to two other men captured by the Confederate forces at the same Plymouth, North Carolina, battle, who suffered similar fates.

BANNING AND ROWE MONUMENT is significant artistically because it is a well-proportioned obelisk with well-defined moldings and raised embellishment. The shaft is set off from its base and cornice by crisp profiles in the classical manner. The two raised motifs are unusual, not only for the fact that the crossed edge weapons are bayonets instead of the usual swords or sabers but also because of the posture of vitality of the eagle and an accompanying feature which may be a scroll.

The lettering has remained sharp in an example of well-cut brownstone from a good quarry, but both stonecutter and quarry are regrettably unknown. While some spalling and chipping has occurred, the stone is in basically sound condition, although it needs to have a substantial amount of biological growth removed near the base.

BANNING AND ROWE MONUMENT is sited about 50' in from the gate on the edge of the roadway through the East Hartland Cemetery, which is a 3.8-acre parcel of flat land. The brownstone monument is a tapered obelisk, standing in contact with nearby vegetation. Its plinth supports a high base from which large cyma reversa and small torus moldings make transition to the shaft. The two sides of the shaft facing the roadway and the front of the cemetery are incised with the lettering recorded below. The other two faces are blank.

Above the lettering, on the east, over BANNING, are crossed bayonets joined by a shield which displays a single star and diagonal band. On the south, over ROWE, is a raised eagle whose talons are grasping a diagonal rod. What appears to be a scroll is suspended from the rod. Torus, scotia, and torus moldings lead up to the projecting cornice and low pyramidal top.

East face of shaft, incised caps:

South:

Baruch, p. 9.