Our 2014 exhibit,
Cornwall and the Civil War,
opens on June 28. The exhibit will be open through October 26 on Saturdays, 10
a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays and holiday Mondays, 1 to 4 p.m.
The exhibit explores the impact of the Civil War
on Cornwall’s residents, from the men who served in the military, to the women
who organized fundraisers to help support the troops. Conflicts within the town
are revealed by the exhibit—not everyone in Cornwall supported the war, and at
least one person even tried, briefly, to fly the Confederate flag at the start
of the war.
Cornwall’s best known soldier was Major General
John Sedgwick, the highest ranking Union soldier to be killed during the Civil
War. Many of Sedgwick’s personal and military memorabilia will be on view in
the exhibit, including his uniform, tactical manuals, battlefield maps, calling
cards, and a gold-tipped cane presented by Sedgwick to his cousin, Samuel W.
Gold. An opulent, jeweled dress sword, presented to Sedgwick by the officers of
the 2d Division, II Corps, will be paired with the field sword Sedgwick wore
into battle. This is the first time in history that the two swords have been
displayed together. The field sword is on loan from The Connecticut Historical
Society in Hartford, where it has rested ever since it was donated to the State
of Connecticut by Sedgwick’s sister after his death.
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| Sedgwick's presentation sword (detail). Collection of Cornwall Historical Society. |
About 182 men from Cornwall, nearly ten percent
of the town’s population, served during the Civil War. Fifty-two of those men
died. Four of Cornwall’s soldiers were prisoners of war: only two survived. The
stories of many of these soldiers are profiled in the exhibit, pairing
photographs and other historic images with first-hand accounts of some of their
experiences. Rare artifacts belonging to Cornwall’s Civil War soldiers will be
on view; these include letters they wrote to family, tintype photographs they
sent home as mementos, a pair of scissors and a thimble carried through the war
by a Cornwall soldier, and a cane used by a veteran whose wartime injuries left
him with a limp. Also included is a fragment of a wood beam salvaged from a
flour mill destroyed by Union troops during General Sheridan’s Shenandoah
Valley Campaign in October 1864; the burned beam was sent back to Cornwall as
tangible evidence of the war’s devastation.
A particularly poignant letter included in the
exhibit was sent by Quarter Master Sergeant Joseph B. Payne, killed at the
Battle of Cold Harbor on June 1, 1864, to his sister Charlotte in Cornwall.
Payne arranged to have the letter sent in the event of his death and wrote “Do not be at your wits end wondering who this comes from,
but receive it as the words of your now Sainted brother Joseph. From one who
loves thee with thoughts too dear to tell, let us recognize each other in
heaven.”
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| Joseph B. Payne carte-de-visite. Collection of Cornwall Historical Society. |
The exhibit has been generously funded by
Connecticut Humanities,
Mohawk Mountain Ski Area,
National Iron Bank, and
Torrington Savings Bank.
The
Cornwall Historical Society is located at 7 Pine Street in Cornwall, CT. The
exhibit runs from June 28 through October 26, 2014 and will be open Saturdays,
10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free, although
donations are welcome. For more information, visit
www.CornwallHistoricalSociety.org or call (860) 672-0505.
