Antietam: Revisiting Newton Manross' monument

Newton Manross was killed at Antietam. I got pricked
 by the sword in the photo.  (Photo: Bristol Historical Society)

Curious about the condition of the monument for Civil War soldier Newton Manross, I stopped by Forestville Cemetery in Bristol, Conn., tonight on my way home from work and shot the video above. Sadly, the tall brownstone memorial to the 16th Connecticut captain who was killed at Antietam remains in poor shape. If repairs are not made soon to the monument placed by the survivors of Manross' Company K, the damage may be irreversible and too costly to fix.

To stir up publicity several months ago, I contacted the Bristol Press, which made brief mention in a column (no longer available online), and twice left messages with the woman in state government who handles such matters, but she didn't return my calls. In tough economic times, it's probably difficult to justify spending thousands of dollars to repair a monument for a soldier who was killed nearly 150 years ago. Perhaps there's another way. I'm up for your ideas. E-mail me here or hit the comments section below.

When he enlisted in the Union army on July 22, 1862, Manross told his wife:  "You can better afford to have a country without a husband than a husband without a country." Terrific quote from a great man who deserves to be remembered.

In this photo taken in 1887, Civil War veterans from the Manross G.A.R. post gather by the
Newton Manross monument in Forestville Cemetery in Bristol, Conn. The monument was
placed there by survivors of Company K of the 16th Connecticut.
(Photo courtesy Bristol Historical Society via Tom LaPorte; CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE.)