Putnam, Israel - Brooklyn, CT

General Israel Putnam

Brooklyn, CT

N 41° 47.186 W 071° 56.982

The grave of General Israel Putnam is located within the monument on Route 169 in the quiet town of Brooklyn in northeastern Connecticut.  A 12' by 8' by 4' bronze equestrian statue, by Karl Gerhardt, sculptor, and cast at the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company, foundry, of General Israel Putnam stands on top of a 13' by x 21' by 12.5' gray granite base. The general is looking over his left shoulder while holding the reins of his horse in his left hand and pointing forward with his right arm and hand with an extended index finger. He is wearing a Revolutionary War uniform with a tri-cornered hat, boots, knee breeches, and a jacket with fringed epaulets. A sword hangs from his left side. His horse appears to be walking with left its front leg raised.

The sculpture rests on an oval base which has a garland of oak leaves encircling it near the top. A wolf head sticks out from the front of the base. This is a reference the the legend that as a young man Israel Putnam killed the last wolf in Connecticut. The symbol became the identified with the Putnam family. On the north and south sides of the base are large polished granite plaques.

The plaque on the north side of the monument is inscribed:

Sacred be this Monument

to the memory of

ISRAEL PUTNAM, Esq.

Senior Major General in the Armies

of the United States of America,

who was born in Salem,

in the Province of Massachusetts

on the 7th day of January,

A.S. 1718

and died on the 29th of May

A.D. 1790

Passenger,

if thou art a soldier,

drop a tear over the dust of a Hero,

who ever attentive

to the lives and happiness of his men

dared to lead

where any dared to follow.

The plaque on the south side of the monument is inscribed:

If a Patriot,

remember the distinguished

and

gallant services

rendered thy country

by the Patriot who sleeps

beneath this marble;

if thou art honest, generous and worthy,

render a cheerful tribute of respect

to a man

whose generosity was singular,

whose honesty was proverbial;

who raised himself

to universal esteem and offices of

eminent distinction

by personal worth and a useful life.

During the French and Indian War, Putnam was a member of Rogers' Rangers. He was became a captain in 1756 and a major in 1758. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, legend says he left his plow in the field and road on horseback 100 miles in eight hours to reach Cambridge, MA. Putnam was made a major general and second in rank to General Artemas Ward in the Army of Observation, the forerunner of the Continental Army.

Putnam was a major planner and participant in the the Battle of Bunker Hill. He is often credited with issuing the battle cry - "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes.". Subsequently he fought in the Battle of Long Island and later assumed command of the troops in the Hudson Highland. He suffered a stroke in 1779 which ended his military career.

Israel Putnam died in Brooklyn, CT on May 29, 1790. He is buried a sarcophagus built into the foundation of this monument near the Brooklyn town green.