New Jersey Monument

The New Jersey Monument stands in-between rows of Civil War prisoner graves.

NPS/Andersonville NHS

On March 17, 1898, the New Jersey Legislature appropriated $2,000 for a monument at Andersonville. The governor appointed two men to serve on the commission, and more than likely they were Civil War veterans. The men selected a large column design in Quincy granite. The top of the monument featured a soldier at parade rest gazing out over the graves of the brave. It is possible this was a stock design that the granite company offered the commission. The commissioners placed a time capsule in the sub-base for future generations to learn from. After careful consideration, the veterans placed copies of the New Jersey Laws, the Senate Journal and the House Minutes of 1898 and a copy of House Assembly Bill 188, and official list of the dead at Andersonville, a photograph of the monument, newspaper clippings about the memorial, a Grand Army of the Republic Union badge, a bronze GAR horseshoe, a list of Medal of Honor winners, a list of the national officers of the Ex-Union Prisoners of War Association, New Jersey's ex-prisoner of war badge, a calendar from 1898, an American silk flag and a staff inside the box. Visiting groups and veterans found the monument inspiring and returned home to lobby for their own state memorials.

From the book A history of Andersonville Prison Monuments. By Stacy W. Reaves

There are two inscriptions on the West side of the Monuments the first reads "DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR" and under that inscription reads " GO, STRANGER TO NEW JERSEY TELL HER THAT WE LIE HERE IN FULFILLMENT OF HER MANDATE AND OUR PLEDGE-TO MAINTAIN THE PROUD NAME OF OUR STATE UNSULLIED, AND PLACE IT HIGH ON THE SCROLL OF HONOR AMONG THE STATES OF THIS GREAT NATION"