“Defenders” Defended

With his tricorn hat askew, one of three defenders leans forward, squinting with one eye to focus on the approaching enemy. ​“Ready… aim… fire!” The cannon explodes with thundering kickback.

The pungent smell of gun powder and rising veil of smoke makes breathing difficult. A sense of urgency propels the fighters — a merchant citizen-soldier, a Yale student, and a prosperous farmer — as they scramble to reload and fire again.

Such a scene may have played out in the mind of historic monument sculptor James E. Kelly as he modeled the spirited, larger-than-life sculpture, ​“Defenders of New Haven,” in 1910.

Now Kelly’s spirit, and his crafstmanship, are being preserved thanks to a public restoration project.

The sculpture commemorates a battle scene that unfolded in 1779, as British forces advanced on the West River in a gambit to capture a powder mill in Westville. A combined force of 150 defenders beat back the attack, but at a heavy cost of 27 American lives.

As I approached the monument on a clear fall morning recently, five figures, not three, had assumed animated positions at the historic monument that sits atop a berm on the wedge-shaped park median at Columbus and Davenport Avenues.

Two of the figures, New Haven area sculptor Silas Finch and his boss, conservator Francis Miller of ConservArt, LLC., a company dedicated to preserving artistic and culture artifacts, were busy applying a special high-melting-point wax to the sculpture’s surface as part of the $42,400 city-funded restoration project. They warmed the surfaces with blowtorches before spreading the hot wax with soft brushes.

When Finch and Miller applied the wax, the verdigris patina — the light green color caused by exposure to air and the elements over time — changed instantly to the metallic bronze closer to the sculpture’s original appearance.

One can argue about the aesthetics of the color change, but according to Miller, the practice is necessary for preservation. The sculpture was suffering the effects of environmental degradation, including the corrosive effects of acid rain, which wears down the metal and weakens the structure overall. Vandalism and thieves who had detached elements of the sculpture, including a long ramrod and bucket rope (pictured in the vintage postcard), also contributed to the sculpture’s decline.

Finch and Miller buffed the wax to a soft luster, ensuring protection from the elements for around five years. Miller said he did not believe the sculpture had ever received maintenance, which explained its advanced state of disrepair. Another part of the preservation team, Michael Donovan (not present), had already created the replacement parts for the missing elements, meticulously modeling them in a composite material that is both enduring and of little interest to metal scrappers.

The restoration project also included repairs to masonry supporting the monumental sculptural base and rehab of the rusted metal fence that surrounds the sculpture. The shiny black fence had already undergone a restoration process that included sand blasting, a galvanizing hot dip, and powder coating. 

According to Rebecca Bombero, the city’s director of parks, recreation, and trees, the repairs are funded in part by Elm City Parks Conservancy, the nonprofit parks advocacy organization, and from a capital allocation by the Board of Alders. This project, along with other area restoration projects, was managed by landscape architect David Moser.

Miller, who received a master’s degree from The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, where he was assistant to the chief conservator, said he researched a small maquette, or plaster model, of the sculpture housed at the New Haven Museum to prepare for the restoration.

A series of historic photographs once owned by the sculptor and provided by New Haven historian Robert S. Greenberg, also assisted restorers in recreating missing elements, like the powder horn slung over a defender’s hip (pictured, center figure).

Among other area projects was the recently restored Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument at East Rock Park. That is where Silas Finch said he first met Miller. Out of interest, he returned to the job site daily, eventually landing a job with the company doing something, he said, ​“that is right up my alley.” Finch, who grew up in his family’s antique business on Cape Cod, incorporates found objects and objects of antiquity in most of his sculptures.

ConservArt is currently working on restoring the Minute Man monument in Westport, a far cry from the Durham crypt which Miller said they once restored amid disturbed human remains that included a watchful skull.

Preserving New Haven’s history is a job Miller and company do with great care and obvious pride. ​“We are defending the history of New Haven through preservation,” Miller said, ​“just as these defenders fought to preserve their town in another era.”