Rochambeau Memorial Monument Unveiling and Dedication

On Saturday, June 27, from 1 to 3, the Middlebury Historical Society will host a ceremony in Meadowview Park, Middlebury, unveiling and dedicating a new monument. The monument honors the French army that encamped on Middlebury's Breakneck Hill June 27-30, 1781, and again in October 1782. The park is located at the intersection of State Routes 64 and 188 in Middlebury, near the Middlebury Police Department headquarters, off exit 16 on I-84.

The French army under comte de Rochambeau marched from Newport, Rhode Island, through Connecticut, and joined Washington and the Continental army in New York for the march to Yorktown, Virginia, where the Allied Army defeated General the British army under General Charles Cornwallis. The British surrendered to the Americans October 19, 1781, thus ending the Revolutionary War and establishing our independence.

Seven years in the making, the new monument honors the French army under General Rochambeau, the veterans who fought in the war, the establishment of a new nation and the values it holds for citizens of freedom, independence and democracy.

The statue was sculpted by noted Cheshire artist Tony Falcone, of the Falcone Art Studio in Prospect, consulting with renowned artist Don Troiani of Southbury. The statue, mounted on a pedestal of native Connecticut granite, will be unveiled in a plaza designed by Abigail Adams of A2 Land Consulting LLC of New Fairfield, and constructed by Vincent Vizzo, contractor, of Oxford.

The entire monument was funded primarily by the family of Lawrence and Marie Janesky of Middlebury, with additional funding from the State of Connecticut and the citizens of Middlebury. 

Join us for a tribute to our nation's 250th anniversary by celebrating those who enabled our independence.