Camp 135 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War will be conducting a rededication ceremony for a monument to Civil War veterans at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Sturgis on Sunday, October 4th.

The monument is a howitzer tube that has been remounted, cleaned and painted as part of a community wide effort of restoration.

This memorial cannon is one of nearly 12,000 that were donated by the United States government between 1872 to 1916 to local posts of the Grand Army of the Republic and other civic and patriotic groups for the purpose of display as a veterans’ war memorial.  They were typically dedicated at the time by surviving veterans to serve as “silent sentinels” to the memory of all who served and sacrificed during the American Civil War.  Unfortunately, less than half remain of those originally dedicated.  In fact it is estimated that only 5,467 of these cannons survived the scrap metal drives of World Wars I and II.  Now, many have fallen into disrepair and are targets of scrap dealers and collectors of Civil War artifacts.

Many of the mountings of these monuments have succumbed to the ravages of time and have fallen into states of disrepair.  As part of a citywide effort, involving local citizens, the City of Sturgis Cemetery and Parks Department and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War; this particular monument has been saved and remounted to its original glory.

March to  the Sea Camp #135 of the Department of Michigan, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War will be re-dedicating this monument at 1 p.m. on Sunday, October 4th, at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Sturgis.