Source: Maine Monument, Salisbury, NC
Maine Monument, Salisbury National Cemetery
Atop the high pillar of the monument stands a Union soldier at parade rest. He wears his uniform, complete with cap, and rests the butt of his rifle at his feet. On the pedestal and column, symbols of the military, cavalry, artillery, and navy are represented by stars, stacked guns, crossed cannons, and crossed swords, respectively. There are four black balls of granite placed at the corners below the soldier. The proposal for a monument honoring the soldiers of Maine who perished during their stay at Salisbury Prison was first made to the state legislature of Maine in 1905. It was approved on March 13, 1907.
Contemporary images (courtesy of Natasha Smith):
Front view |
View with Monument to 11700 Unknown Dead |
Rear view |
Front inscription |
Left inscription |
Right inscription |
Soldier |
Detail of base
Front: MAINE’S TRIBUTE / TO / HER SOLDIERS / WHO DIED, / WHILE PRISONERS OF WAR / AT / SALISBURY, N.C. / 1864 – 1865 / ONE COUNTRY-ONE FLAG.
Right: "THEY FOUGHT FOR / PEACE, - FOR / PEACE THEY FELL. - / THEY SLEEP IN PEACE, / AND ALL IS WELL."
Left: NEITHER HUNGER, / THIRST, / NOR OFFERED BRIBES, / AFFECTED / THEIR LOYALTY.
Rear: "TO LIVE IN HEARTS, / WE LEAVE BEHIND, / IS NOT TO DIE."
Salisbury National Cemetery, Department of Veterans Affairs
June 8, 1908
35.659260 , -80.475020
View in Geobrowse
"Cemeteries - Salisbury National Cemetery," United States Department of Veterans Affairs, (accessed January 22, 2012) Link
"Salisbury National Cemetery," National Park Service, (accessed January 22, 2012) Link
Grimes, J. Bryan. Remarks of J. Bryan Grimes: Responding for the State of North Carolina, Upon the Occasion of the Dedication of the Maine Monument at Salisbury, N.C., May 8, 1908, ([Raleigh, NC: J. Bryan Grimes], 1908), (accessed May 22, 2012) Link
Libby, Thomas G. Report of the Maine Commissioners on the Maine (Waterville, ME: Sentinel Publishing Company, 1908), (accessed February 8, 2012) Link
“Maine, One Country-One Flag,” The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed February 2, 2012) Link
Yes
White granite from Lincolnville, Maine; black granite from St. George and Vinalhaven, Maine; bronze.
The State of Maine
$4,755 (5000 was appropriated by the state legislature)
Confederate Veterans were invited to participate in the dedication. On behalf of Governor Robert B. Glenn of North Carolina, the Hon. J. Bryan Grimes (himself the son of a Confederate General) gave remarks. The Mayor of Salisbury also made comments at the dedication.
Grimes' remarks caused some controversy which lead him to later publish his speech in an attempt to clarify. He had not wished to give the speech in the first place.
Grimes declared the cause of the suffering of prisoners was Northern authorities. This speech and his defense of the South is representative of an ongoing debate over responsibility for prisoners who died in Civil War prison camps.
The monument is located next to the Monument to 11700 Unknown Dead dedicated to soldiers who died in the Confederate prison at Salisbury and a small plaque placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy which includes a diagram of the Burial Trenches and Salisbury Prisonlocations.
The Maine Memorial lies on top of a hill in Salisbury National Cemetery among the graves of Civil War soldiers. 18 burial trenches of unknown union dead are behind the monument. Nearby is a marker placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and a obelisk placed by the Federal Government. Down the hill is a monument placed by the state of Pennsylvania. The cemetery is in close proximity to the former site of Salisbury Prison.
Yes
After the idea was brought up in the legislature by Hon. George B. Haskell in 1905, the military committee considered the monument; it was approved in 1907. Appropriations were made for two commissioners to involve themselves in the task of erecting a monument before December 1908.
Original appropriation: $5,000. Estimated cost for the construction: $3,800.
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