Nearly 150 years later, the 283 Schoharie County soldiers and sailors who died in the Civil War finally have the honors due them.
Veterans, historians, family, friends––and even President Abraham Lincoln––gathered at the Old Stone Fort in Schoharie Monday afternoon to dedicate the county’s first and only monument to the Civil War dead.
The new monument joins others honoring veterans and stands near the fort’s tower.
The two cannon barrels that flanked the walkway to the fort’s entrance are now in front of the Civil War monument.
“This serves the living as illustrating the cost of freedom,” said Richard Sherman, chairman of the Monument Committee, told an assembly of more than 100 near the fort.
Discussed and planned for years, the project was spearheaded by the Cpl. James Tanner Camp #134 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
Mr. Sherman’s Monument Committee is a sub-group of the Sons and raised funds for and designed the monument.
Sunday’s dedication followed a day-long Memorial Day observance at the fort. The ceremony began with a parade of flowers on the fort grounds.
The Civil War-era Excelsior Cornet Band, re-enactors and Pete Lindemann as President Lincoln joined the parade, which featured an 1870s buggy loaded with flowers to be placed on veterans’ graves.
Museum Director Carle Kopecky led off the dedication by saying that the Civil War dead left a message for the future.
“They died because politicians couldn’t settle their differences in 1861,” Mr. Kopecky said.
“We have improved as a society since then. We have to remember that we’re stronger together than fighting one another.”
Jeremy Rosenthal, president of the Schoharie County Historical Society, praised the many who helped bring about the monument.
The Sons, Mr. Rosenthal said, “provided the vision and a majority of the heavy lifting,” while the fort staff and the county helped with the site work.
But also, Mr. Rosenthal added, credit is due to “the individuals who are committed to history. To those individuals, I humbly thank you all.”
Harold Vroman, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, acknowledged the county’s role and said the monument was appropriate.
“It’s just due recognition of people in the past who made it better for us,” Mr. Vroman said.
Mr. Sherman also thanked the county Department of Public works for preparing site and the historical society for its assistance.
Produced and engraved by Cherry Valley Memorials, the monument features badges and inscriptions on the front and the names of all the fallen Civil War veterans on the back.
Those names are key, Mr. Sherman said, for they prevent the monument from being a forgotten part of our past.
“They continue to speak to us,” Mr. Sherman said. “They implore us not to repeat that horrifying time of our history.”