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"The Gorham Soldier's Monument" Photo by Kayla Graffam, 2022
The Gorham Soldiers' Monument
The Gorham Soldiers' Monument
The Civil War was one of the bloodiest wars in American history. Between 1861 and 1865, 620,000 soldiers were killed, with millions more injured. While these men had no idea what they were up against when they took up arms for their country, they had to have known how dangerous it would be and what they were sacrificing. What could have possibly motivated these men and many others from the state of Maine to leave their homes, and their families, to potentially lose their lives? These men gave up their normal lives in rural Maine to fight for the unity and strength of their country. To fight against the rebels of the South and preserve the Union.
In October 1866, just a little more than a year after the Union victory in the Civil War, the town of Gorham, Maine erected a large, marble obelisk in front of their town hall. The construction of the monument was funded by Toppan Robie, a citizen of the town of Gorham. He donated $3,060 to the construction of the monument, and wrote the following when asking the town of Gorham to build the monument:
"As a token of my respect for the brave and patriotic men of Gorham who volunteered their services in defence of the Union, and have aided in crushing the wicked rebellion, and from a desire on my part that the names of those who have fallen in battle, or who have died of wounds or sickness incurred in the service, should not be forgotten, but handed down to future generations, I propose to the inhabitants of Gorham that a suitable monument should be erected, at my expense, in front of the Town House, commemorative of these events."
- Toppan Robie, Oct, 1865
The monument honored the memories of those men from Gorham who died serving in the Union army, listing their names, ranks, ages, and the dates and places where they met their ends. Students at the University of Southern Maine walk by this monument almost every day as they go to class, not knowing the significance that this piece of marble holds to our history as a town and a state. The fifty-seven men whose names are passed by go unknown to history. Their once honorary sacrifice now a footnote in the history books.
The monument stands directly in front of the Town House. It is made of Italian marble, with die and shaft, the latter in obelisk form, and rests upon a substantial base of granite. The die has been inscribed upon it the names of our deceased soldiers.
The shaft is ornamented with military emblems, carved in relief, and the whole structure is surmounted by the American eagle. All the carving, as well as the general finish of the monument, is very handsome and appropriate.
The height of the column is twenty-four feet. The base black has the following inscription:
Erected by Hon. Toppan Robie.
To the Memory of the Sons of Gorham who sacrificed their lives for their Country in the great Rebellion of 1861.
1866
Click here to read more about the dedication ceremony
List of men on the monument:
The Fifth Maine
Sergeant Charles H. Patrick
Corporal Henry H. Newell
Corporal Morris F. Bumpus
Corporal George S. Reed
Corporal Charles M. Ward
Peter Duffy
Alonzo S. Elder
Joseph D. Harmon
George H. Merrett
Emery Rolfe
The Twelfth Maine
Captain Daniel M. Phillips
Corporal Mahlon H. Parker
Corporal Daniel L. Roberts
James A. Smith
G. Sumner Whitney
The Sixteenth Maine
Captain Oliver H. Lowell
Lieutenant George W. Edwards
Sergeant John McPhee
William Cannell Jr.
Benjamin F. Metcalf
Corporal John F. Harding
Abram S. Andrews
William W. Ward
Alonzo Whitney
The Seventeenth Maine
Captain Almon L. Fogg
Sergeant Cyrus M. Hall
James B. Brown
Freeman Brown
Ephriam Hicks
James E. Haskell
William Powers
John H. Roberts
Silas M. Smith
Backer’s D.C. Cavalry
George Coonley
1st California Cavalry
Ormond L. Douglass
1st Maine Battery
William M. Spaulding
1st Maine Cavalry
Joseph Small
1st Maine Regiment
Charles H. Paine
2nd Maine Cavalry
Corporal Shirley Harmon
Francis H. Small
2nd Maine Battery
John M. Stevens
Rev. John R. Adams: Chaplain of the 5th Maine and the 121st New York Regiments
6th Maine Battery
Charles F. Riggs
7th Connecticut Regiment
Charles F. Waterman
9th Maine Regiment
Captain Chester B. Shaw
Sergeant William H. Johnson
Moses B. Tripp
10th Maine Regiment
Solomon Mains
11th US Infantry
Franklin H. Blake
11th Maine Regiment
Freedom D. Rand
Charles Williams
20th Maine Regiment
William F. Dunn
Lewis Libby
31st Maine Regiment
Sergeant Horatio F. Smith
32nd Maine Regiment
Sergeant Joseph Files
William H. Smith
Research and text by Kayla Graffam
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