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This monument is erected by authority of an Act of the Pennsylvania Legislature approved June 13th 1907.
To commemorate the patriotic devotion, heroism, and self-sacrifice of the officers and soldiers of the Pennsylvania Volunteers who died while confined as prisoners of war in the Confederate Military Prison at Salisbury, North Carolina, during the War of the Rebellion and were interred among the unknown Union soldiers and sailors in the eighteen trenches at the southeast side of the monument.
A grateful commonwealth renders the tribute to their honor and memory.
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Many Pennsylvania Soldiers are Buried Here
They were citizens of a state whose founders came across the sea and established a commonwealth where all men would be equal and, under just laws, free to enjoy their inalienable rights in the pursuit of happiness, unmolested by King or Noble or prejudiced class. They used the sword only to preserve the peace and unity of their country. Twice on the soil of their state were crucial struggles for the republic. First at Valley Forge, that tested the courage and fortitude of the Patriot Army; then at Gettysburg, that proved the Nation could not be broken. Respecting the example of the Romans, who never raised emblems of triumph over a foe,
the commonwealth of Pennsylvania erects this monument to perpetuate the memory of the dead and not as a commemoration of victory.
Their memory cannot be forgot;
Forever shall men's hearts revere
their loyalty, and hold this spot
sacred because they perished here.
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