On the first day of June the earthly remains of Israel Putnam, attended by a distinguished company of former comrades and sorrowing friends, were taken to the Brooklyn burying-ground, and placed in a brick tomb. Upon the slab of the tomb was carved the lengthy epitaph, printed on the next page, as composed by Dr. Timothy Dwight, Putnam's former friend and chaplain in the army, who subsequently became President of Yale College. [Illustration: Statue to General Putnam at Brooklyn, Connecticut.] To the memory of Israel Putnam, Esquire, Senior Major-General in the Armies of The United States of America Who Was born at Salem In the Province of Massachusetts On the seventh day of January AD. 1718, And died On the twenty-ninth day of May AD. 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; If a Patriot, Remember the distinguished and gallant services Rendered thy Country By the Patriot who sleeps beneath this Monument; If thou art Honest, generous & 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 Usefull life. With the passing of the years, Putnam's tomb in the pleasant little cemetery in Brooklyn became defaced through the ravages of time and heartless relic hunters, so the State resolved to erect a more enduring monument to "Connecticut's hero of the Revolution." This monument was dedicated June 14th, 1888, nearly a century after the death of the one it is intended to commemorate, and is in the shape of a beautiful bronze statue, representing Putnam on his war-horse, beneath the pedestal supporting which, embedded in the foundation, is a sarcophagus containing his ashes. It stands near the old church which Putnam helped to build, and not far distant from the field in which he was plowing when the call came from Lexington and Concord. Dr. Dwight's original epitaph is inscribed on the tablets, and a wolf's head in bronze ornaments the pedestal on each side.