Kensington Civil War Soldiers Monument Obelisk

The Kensington Soldiers Monument by Nelson Augustus Moore was created in July, 1863 while the Civil War was still being fought. It was one of the earliest Civil War monuments and the first in Connecticut. Egyptian style obelisks were the accepted form of memorial monuments up to the mid-1860s following a tradition established in France by Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egyptian Scientific Expedition of 1799-1801.  The Kensington Monument’s purely architectural form would give way to figurative memorials by the end of the Civil War.  The monument is made of local Portland brownstone and sits atop a multi-tiered base. The monument was created to honor six Kensington residents who were killed in battle in 1862.  Additional names of other fallen soldiers were added alongside the original six to commemorate losses in later Civil War engagements. The monument has a carving of the Connecticut State Seal, as well as an inscription from poet William Collins.

The inscription reads: “Erected to commemorate the death of those who perished in suppressing the Southern Rebellion. ‘How sleep the brave who sink to rest by all their country’s wishes blest,’ 1863”.