Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 February 1891 — A CREAT BATTLE MONUMENT. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A CREAT BATTLE MONUMENT.

Preparations Under Way for the Dedication of the Shaft at Denning;ton. The Vermonters whose great-grand-sires fought at Bennington are to have a great celebration Aug. 16. It will be a double jubilee. The battle of Bennington was fought Aug. 16, 1777.

Vermont was admitted to the Union in 1791. So the celebrations are combined, and on the anniversary of the battle the great Bennington battle monument will be dedicated. The monument will soon be completed and will be one of the most interesting memorial structures yet erected in this country. It stands on the hill which the grim and determined men of Bennington held against the red-coats on the memorable day in 1777. The base of the shaft is 300 feet above the Walloomsac valley. Half a mile to the south Mount Anthony rears itself in grandeur 2,000 feet high. The site of the towering shaft has been admirably selected. j. The monument will be 301 feet high, 44 feet square at the base and 37 feet square at the top. The foundation is of limestone, built into the solid rock which forms the hill. The structure proper, now almost completed, will be a simple shaft in the form of an obelisk, built of magnesian limestone. There will be a winding stairway in the interior. The monument is erected by the three States which are to dedicate it and the General Government, together with large private contributions.

BENNINGTON BATTLE MONUMENT.