General Lysander Cutler Forest Home Cemetery obelisk honors veteran

MILWAUKEE - A new obelisk at Forest Home Cemetery honors the life of General Lysander Cutler a Civil War veteran who served in the Union Army. The obelisk was unveiled Sunday, May 28 during Memorial Day weekend.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Cutler was one of the few people in Milwaukee with military training, so at 53 years old, he was commissioned.

Cutler was born in Massachusetts and received training in the Maine Militia during the 1830s. He made his way to Milwaukee around 1856.

On Sunday, a monument was dedicated to him at the Forest Home Cemetery. Treasurer of the Civil War Round Table of Milwaukee, Paul Eilbe, helped make it happen.

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"The original obelisk had worn and weathered over time and was illegible," said Eilbes. "It needs to always be remembered because we cannot forget the service that was given and the lives that were given for this country."  

Cutler commanded various regiments, brigades and divisions.

"His first command in the Civil War was the 6th Wisconsin Infantry; 6th Wisconsin was known as the Black Hats or the Iron Brigade of the West, an all-western unit that served in the Army and Platonic of the east," said Eilbe. "He helped them get their reputation." 

 After resignation, Cutler returned to Milwaukee in 1865, where he died a year later.

The rededicated monument was completely funded by the Civil War Round Table of Milwaukee.

"It was a tremendous effort, and it speaks a lot to the missions of the Round Table, which is historic education about Civil War era and preservation of that,' said Eilbe.