Defenders Monument

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By Ethan Rankowitz


At the intersection of Davenport and Columbus Avenues three soldiers stand, commemorated in bronze, with their tricorn hats askew, positioned ready to defend their city from those who would try to take it. These men stand around a cannon aimed down Columbus Ave. across the West Bridge, towards where a unit of the attacking British soldiers were advancing on the town of New Haven in July 1779. Although, New Haven was eventually taken from the east, the defense of the West Bridge was a success and the defenders were able to keep the British at bay. As the City Beautiful movement took hold of New Haven in the early twentieth century, its people elected to commission and erect a statue that would commemorate the farmers, students, and merchants who fought in its defense.

 

The statue itself was erected in 1910 and was created by James. E Kelly, a prominent sculptor responsible for the Monmouth Battle monument in New Jersey as well as the statue of George Washington at Federal Hall in New York. However, the creation of the monument was derived from a remembrance for the events which had happened when New Haven was forced to defend itself. The story of the event was told in The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, a very popular newspaper at the time of the monument's dedication. In the December 16, 1905 issue the defense of New Haven was described, with a notable dose of pride. “It was the only instance in which the men of a single town, unsupported by outside help…pitted themselves against a British army…prevented the enemy from accomplishing its principle purpose,” the account proudly declared. Through this article, the Defenders Monument Association raised awareness and asked for the people of New Haven and the surrounding towns to aid in the construction of the statue. The next year, Kelly was able to build a model of the monument, which was displayed in the American Art News and which evoked the “strong appeals to patriotism, both in the stirring events they commemorate and in the ideas they illustrate.” By further remarking on the patriotism and the contribution to the Revolution that the Defenders and citizens of New Haven made, historian Laura Macaluso argues, these efforts helped to give New Haven both a role in the freedom of the nation and to pull themselves out from under the shadow of Benedict Arnold, the famous American traitor, who was a son of New Haven.

 

Five years later, the statue was finished and erected at its home in what became Defenders Park. During the dedication of the statue, Governor Simeon E. Baldwin gave a speech in order to commemorate the statue and to help reinforce the meaning that it holds to the men and women of New Haven, observing that “the men of New Haven had always been quick to answer the call of military duty.” In his speech, the Governor also made sure to make note of the fact that it was almost an insult to those that gave their lives in defense of the city when twenty years earlier--in 1890--there was a monument erected to indicate where the British landed during their invasion. However, Baldwin framed the commemoration of the landing site as simply a prelude to the Defenders monument, to serve as a sort of secondary monument once the Defender’s Monument itself had been erected, in order to provide context.

 

The three bronze men still stand in Defenders Park, slightly damaged and weathered green from time sitting in the sun, rain, and snow. The ramrod, carried by one soldier, is gone, having been taken from him long ago, leaving him empty handed. Despite this, in 2014 an article in the New Haven Independent details the refurbishment the monument received, especially the bronze men and cannon. They were given a wax coating in order to help preserve them and to provide some additional protection from the elements. The restoration was being done by Silas Finch and Francis Miller who work for a company which specializes in restoring and conserving pieces of public art. Due to the work of Finch and Miller, the defenders carry on, now defending the West Bridge with renewed effort and a new metallic gleam. Miller regards his work saying, “we are defending the history of New Haven through preservation…just as these defenders fought to preserve their town in another era.” This care and dedication from both the city and those it employs can save both this monument and other monuments around the city, preserving them for the future, so that we may continue learning and remembering.


The Defenders age has begun to show again six years after the refinishing done by Finch and Miller, 2020, courtesy of the author.


The inscription on the base of the flagpole behind the soldiers, 2020, courtesy of the author.

Bibliography

"American Art News, Vol. 4, No. 31." American Art News 4, no. 31 (1906): 1-8. Accessed       October 19, 2020.

Macaluso, Laura A. The Public Artscape of New Haven: Themes in the Creation of a City Image.           Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co, 2018. Pg. 84

National Endowment for the Humanities. The Bridgeport Evening Farmer, October 28, 1911,  Page 4.

National Endowment for the Humanities. The Daily Morning Journal and Courier. December 16, 1905.

 Pelland, Dave. “Defenders' Monument, New Haven.” CT Monuments.net. CT Monuments,      December 22, 2010.

 Sepulveda, David. “‘Defenders’ Defended.” New Haven Independent. New Haven Independent, November 10, 2014.

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