Civil War statue stirs controversy
BEVERLY – A Civil War soldier of Italian marble is showing his age on the corner of Melbourne Avenue and Cherry Street.
Time has taken a toll on the 140-year-old Union Army of the Potomac sentinel, who once kept watch over the graves of nearly 150 soldiers of the Civil War at nearby Beverly National Cemetery in Edgewater Park.
Numerous cracks have developed on the four sides of the marble on which the almost 10-foot high, caped soldier is perched with his rifle. He is elevated on a makeshift base on the corner property of W.A. Cortright Jr. American Legion Post 115 in Beverly.
Dark streaks mar parts of the statue, which has no markers identifying him or when he was erected.
Though worn by weather, the soldier has avoided gouges and loss of limbs.
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, New Jersey Department, has long supported the return of the statue to the cemetery, where it was erected June 28, 1875 — 140 years ago Sunday.
David Martin, secretary and past commander of the war veterans' descendants group, said members want to prevent further deterioration of the statue, originally named "Soldier at Rest" but sometimes referred to as "Billy Yank."
"It needs restoration and better attention because it is not getting attention," Martin said.
The group passed a resolution June 13 supporting the return of the statue to the cemetery and the sending of support letters to the legion post and the federal Veterans Affairs Department's National Cemetery Administration.
A Civil War re-enactors group also has advocated the statue's return.
The monument was a gift to the cemetery from the state of New Jersey, which paid $10,000 for its sculptingto honor Union soldiers who fought and died in the Civil War. It was erected on the 10th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. The cemetery was built in 1864 to bury soldiers who died in the Union Army hospital that was set up in Beverly.
The relocation of the statue and the process that led to it have been contentious issues. In 1995 a Superior Court lawsuit was filed against the legion in an effort to have the statue returned to the cemetery, but the case was dropped by retired teacher and businesswoman Carole Moore of Edgewater Park after an alleged verbal settlement that legion officials denied.
"I would just like to see it returned to stand over the bodies of veterans. There are no bodies where it stands now," Moore said.
The statue is no longer atop an ornate spire that once elevated it to a height of nearly 60 feet above the cemetery nor is it on its its original four-sided, stepped granite base. The new base material is not visible because its four white sides, which also have cracks, have been painted or stuccoed white. At one time it was visible brick.
The last Army record of the statue being cleaned was in 1938 when it also was waterproofed.
The spire, condemned as unsafe, was removed, according to a 1951 Army work order for a $6,650 contract. However, for unknown reasons, the statue was never re-erected atop the stepped base, which somehow was lost after 1951, along with its inscription.
A 1953 update written on that 1951 Army record, which the Courier-Post has obtained, says the Army donated the statue to American Legion Post 115 on May 29 that year. Others say the statue was moved without Army permission and turned up crated in a shed or garage in Beverly.
American Legion Post 115 longtime members like Ralph Ulissi said the legion rescued the statue from a "garage" on a private property in Beverly.
Legion commander Edward Gitto declined comment on the statue. A request for any ownership documents the legion may possess was denied.
"I think it is obvious it was donated to the legion," said Christopher Erbe, spokesman for the VA's National Cemetery Administration, which did not assume control of the Beverly cemetery until 1973.
However, he said if the legion would want to donate it, his agency would consider it. "We review a donation on a case by case basis," he said.
Carol Comegno: 856) 486-2473; ccomegno@courierpostonline.com
