- CountryUS
- Town:CT Brooklyn
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Year of creation:1888
- Rider(s):Putnam, Israel
Legend has it that Israel Putnam (1718–1790) left his plough in a field and rode on horseback for 100 miles in eight hours to reach Cambridge Massachusetts at the outbreak of the war. He was made second in rank in the Army of Observation, a forerunner of the Continental Army, and was a major planner and participant in the Battle of Bunker Hill. He suffered a stroke in 1779, which ended his military career.
- Sculptor(s):Gerhardt, Karl
(1853 – 1940) was an American sculptor, best known for his death mask of President Ulysses S. Grant and a portrait bust of Mark Twain.
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Putnam is buried in a sarcophagus built into the foundations of this equestrian statue: ‘the patriot who sleeps beneath this marble’.
A wolf’s head sticks out from the base of the sculpture, referring to the story that as a young man, Putnam killed the last wolf in Connecticut.
Texts on some of the plaques:
Passenger,
if thou art a soldier,
drop a tear over the dust of a Hero,
who ever attentive
dared to lead
where any dared to follow.
If a Patriot,
remember the distinguished
and
gallant services
rendered thy country
by the Patriot who sleeps
beneath this marble;
