Cambridge Soldiers' Monument

Two images of the Cambridge Soldiers' Monument, honoring the soldiers from Cambridge Massachusetts who died during the American Civil war. The sketch on the left is from a book published by the Cambridge City Council on the occasion of the monument's dedication in 1870. The photograph on the right shows the current appearance of the monument.

A few months ago, I discovered The Honor Roll project, a crowd-sourced effort to document the names on military memorials. The goal is not only to honor the men and women who have served and died for our country, but also to make this information available to friends and relatives by listing those names online where they will be found and indexed by internet search engines. Anyone can participate by photographing and transcribing military memorials near their home or anywhere else they happen to visit.

In honor of Memorial Day this year (2018), I decided to create an entry for the Cambridge Soldiers' Monument, which honors the men of Cambridge, Massachusetts who died in the Civil War. The monument is on the Cambridge Common, a short walk from my home. Despite cloudy weather, I took several pictures of the monument and the plaques listing those it commemorates. After I bit of a delay, I am posting that information here.  I've also spent a bit of time reading up on the monument in the Cambridge Newspaper Archive and in a book about the monument, published by the city of Cambridge.

History and Appearance

Figure on top of the Cambridge Soldier's
Monument, representing a typical citizen
soldier.

The images at the top of this page show the appearance of the monument in 1870, when it was dedicated (on the left), and on Memorial Day this year (on the right). There are two interesting differences in these images. The first is the statue (or lack thereof) in the vaulted arcade in the middle of the monument.  The designers of the monument left it empty and proposed that it should be left vacant until a suitable figure or image could be chosen to commemorate a time when "the harmony of North and South [were] thoroughly restored" [Soldiers' Monument, p. 32].

At the dedication of the monument, several ideas were put forth for a statue to occupy the arcade.  These included "the Altar of Liberty," a statue of a wounded soldier "recumbent on the field of battle," or a bronze statue of Governor John Andrew, an abolitionist who served as Governor of Massachusetts during the Civil War and died in 1867, shortly before the Cambridge Soldiers' Monument was commissioned. [Soldiers' Monument, p. 60].

As it turned out, the arcade remained empty for nearly 70 years. In 1937 a bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln was added to the monument. It appears that the Lincoln statue was the idea and project of Commander Francis J. O'Reilly, the last living Civil War veteran in Cambridge.

The other difference between the artist's sketch of the Soldiers' Monument and it's appearance today is the iron fence that surrounds the monument. I haven't found any information about its history, but it turns out to be a significant impediment to actually reading the plaques on the monument. The writing on the plaques is small, and the fence keeps viewers at sufficient distance that they can't be read with the naked eye.  In fact, I wasn't able to photograph them (legibly) with the zoom on my iPhone camera. Instead, I had to return home to get an SLR with telephoto lens.

The square base of the monument has four large tablets. On these are:

• The dedication
• Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
• The text of G.A.R. General Order no. 11, declaring May 30, 1868 a day of remembrance for those "who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion.
• The text of three telegrams sent from Washington to the Governor of Massachusetts in April 1861, calling on Massachusetts to send troops.

The dedication was part of the original monument. The other three tablets were added in 1927.

Dedication

The Cambridge Soldiers' Monument is dedicated with this brief statement:

The Soldiers and Sailors of Cambridge, whose names are here inscribed, died in the service of their country, in the war for the maintenance of the Union.

To perpetuate the memory of their valor and patriotism, this Monument is erected by the City, A.D., 1869–70.

Memorial Tablets

At each corner of the monument is a decorative buttress.  Eight tablets, all part of the original design, occupy the sides of these buttresses and list the names of the soldiers and sailors from Cambridge who died during the Civil War.

In the sections below, I present photos of each of these tablets and lists of names as they appear on each tablet. The first tablet is to the right of the dedication. The following tablets move to the right around the monument, until the eighth, which is on the left side of the dedication. The photos may not be completely legible inline, but you should be able to click on them for the higher resolution original images.

First Tablet

Brig. General CHARLES RUSSELL LOWELL.

1st. Mass. Inf. Vols.

2d. Lt. Wm. H. B. Smith.

Sergt. G. W. Harris.

Corp. Thomas Lawson.

Horace O. Blake.

Aurelius Gray.

Wm. H. Lattimer.

Christopher Morris.

Henry Pemmore.

Wm. H. Smart.

Wm. Wilson.

2nd. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Capt. Richard Cary.

Capt. Thomas R. Robeson.

1st. Lt. Gerald Fitzgerald.

Peter Conlan.

6th Mass. Inf. Vols.

Benj. F. Lancton.

9th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

1st. Lt. John H. Rafferty.

Sergt. George Grier.

Corp. Richard Condon.

Wm. Adams. 

Bernard Conway.

Michael Conway.

Thomas Marin.

11th Mass. Inf. Vols.

Sergt. J. L. Brown.

John P. Brown.

Joseph D. Bertsch.

George W. Bullock.

John E. Butler.

Ferdinand Haberer.

A. H. Hamilton.

John F. Hawkes.

Edward T. Hixon.

John C. Murphy.

James H. Pierce, Jr.

Augustus R. Pope.

Wm. Schmidt.

Humphrey Sullivan.

13th Mass Inf. Vols.

Samuel S. Gould

John O. Keefe.

George F. Wakefield.

15th Mass Inf. Vols.

Francis L. Lander.

Wm. Robins.

Second Tablet

16th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Capt. A. J. Dallas.

2d. Lt. Hiram Rowe.

Sergt. Theo. E. Waters.

Sergt. John P. Turner.

Corp. Joseph McEvoy.

Corp. Jeremiah Murphy.

Corp. Thomas Tabor.

Jeremiah Cokely.

Jeremiah Corkery.

Joseph Corrigan.

Samuel A. Cutting.

Thomas Fitzgerald.

Herman Flint.

Wm. F. Freeman.

Charles W. Goodwin.

David G. Hatch.

Dennis Horrigan.

John Hughes, 2d.

Paul Kennedy.

Timothy Kelleher.

Edward Lennon.

John Lynch.

Dennis Meagher.

George Nichols.

Frederick S. Richards.

17th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Capt. Levi P. Thompson.

Charles Murphy.

18th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

2d. Lt. Pardon Almy, Jr.

2d. Lt. James B. Hancock.

Sergt. George E. Henshaw.

Sergt. Horace M. Hosmer.

Corp. John E. Howe.

George W. Paull.

19th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

2d. Lt. Wm. H. Tibbetts.

Sergt. Nathaniel Prentiss.

Sergt. Charles B. Brown.

Sert. Oliver Hapgood.

Joseph Baldwin.

Thomas F. Costello.

George W. Lucy.

Alexander Morin.

George E. Morse.

Thomas Murphy.

Walter S. Penniman.

Lewis Westacott.

Richard Westacott.

George R. White.

Levi Woofindale.

20th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Major Henry L. Patten.

1st. Lt. James J. Lowell.

2d. Lt. Wm. L. Putnam.

Sergt. George F. Cate.

Sergt. Andrew A. Langley.

Francis W. Eaton.

Walter H. Stedson.

George W. Waters.

21st. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Patrick Fay.

Third Tablet

22nd. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Cap. Joseph A. Baxter.

Capt. Robert T. Bourne.

Sergt. Daniel F. Brown.

Sergt. Wm Matthews.

Corp. Alex T. Barri.

George W. Bentley.

Samuel Benjamin.

Archibald McCaffrey.

Patrick Donovan.

Benjamin F. Gunnison.

Elias Manning.

23rd. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Ferdinand Matthews.

24th Mass. Inf. Vols.

Corp. Joseph H. Wyman.

Isaac Fenton.

John Irwin.

Wm. Thompson.

Frank Todd.

James Travis.

George T. Wood.

26th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

1st. Lt. James Monroe.

Corp. Owen Duffy.

Wm. Z. Morey.

28th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Sergt. Oliver L. Hodgdon.

Sergt. Lauren F. Langley.

Sergt. John Henry Purcell.

Corp. John Cooley.

Corp. John Hogan.

Wm. C. Carnes.

John Caswell.

Daniel Conway.

Michael Daly.

Bernard Flanigan.

Henry Gould.

Peter Hanlon.

Michael Hoar.

Peter Kelly.

Thomas Kelsey.

Timothy Leary.

Bernard Madden.

John Manning.

John Marshall.

James McNall.

Wm. Mitchell.

John Murphy.

Wm. Plant.

Edward. B. Thomas.

David Tyter.

Ebenezer Whiting.

Robert Wiseman.

John Gibbons.

Fourth Tablet

29th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

1st. Lt. Ezra Ripley.

Sergt. Edward M. Hastings.

30th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Robert L. Dale.

Daniel Hickey.

Joseph Hoey.

David Johnston.

Dennis O'Brien.

William Phipps.

Francis E. Stevens.

George G. Thwing.

31st. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Patrick McDermott.

Michael McQuillan.

32nd. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Corp. David K. Munroe.

38th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Sergt. Maj. Walter W. Nourse.

Sergt. J. Frank Angell.

Sergt. Martin G. Child.

Sergt. Wm. P. Hadley.

Sergt. Curtis Hobbs.

Sergt. Charles A. Howard.

Corp. Thomas Cassidy.

Corp. W. L. Champney.

Corp. Hezekiah O. Gale.

Corp. Levi Langley.

Corp. Charles E. Neale.

Corp. Augustus A. Thurston.

George N. Allen.

George R. Blake.

George L. Burton.

John D. Burtwell.

Patrick Callahan.

Charles A. Carpenter.

Herman J. Clark.

John Conner.

Michael T. Croning.

John H. Dame.

Charles T. Denton.

John A. Dodge.

Marcus Downing.

John Ducy.

James English.

James M. Fairfield.

James J. Gibson.

Thomas Gibson.

Patrick J. Gill.

Fifth Tablet

38th. Regiment, continued.

John M. Gilcreas.

James Golden.

Wm. Harlow.

John Harney.

Joseph H. Hughes.

Alfred Jennings.

Wm. H. Lunt.

Francis McQuade.

John Madden.

Thomas Maroney.

Joseph A. Morris.

Michael Murphy.

Dennis B. Nash.

Martin O'Brien.

Charles Parker.

John Powers.

Edwin C. Proctor.

John H. Ready.

Thomas H. Roper.

Orrin Seavey.

David Shattels.

Wm. L. Stevens.

Francis C. Swift.

John H. Talbot.

George T. Tucker.

John H. Tucker.

Charles White.

Dennis White.

39th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Col. P. Stearns Davis.

Thomas J. Short.

42nd. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Thomas J. Clements.

43rd. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Corp. Wm. F. Sparrow.

Howard J. Ford.

44th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Sergt. A. Stacy Courtis.

Walter S. Bradbury.

Albert L. Butler.

Francis C. Hopkinson.

45th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Corp. Wm. J. Rand.

Edwin R. Clark.

Wm. L. Parker.

Wm. B. Price.

47th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

1st. Lt. Jared Shepard.

Bernard Haley.

Charles D. Harlow.

Patrick O'Niel.

Sixth Tablet

55th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

2d. Lt. Leonard C. Alden.

56th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Brev. Maj. Charles James Mills.

Sergt. Edwin F. Richardson.

Corp. Frederick Ruhling.

Lucien Andrews.

William A. Dillingham.

Patrick Howard.

Dennis McMahon.

Bernard Mullen.

Leonard Volk.

58th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Franklin J. Cremin.

59th. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Sergt. James McCalvey.

Corp. John Scanlan.

Corp. Frank Snow.

Sidney Allen.

Philo G. Lawton.

Randolph Ruther.

Thomas Sullivan.

61st. Mass. Inf. Vols.

Edwin J. Bigelow.

Alvah Montgomery.

William O'Brien.

James H. Rowe.

21st. Co. unattached Mass. Inf. 

John Crockett.

11th. Vet. Res. Corps.

John Toomey.

U.S. Navy.

Bartholemew O'Brien.

1st. Mass. Cavalry Vols.

Sergt. Charles C. Schwartz.

Corp. Alphonso D. Titus.

Corp. Henry Walker.

Frank M. Almy.

Charles R. Gay.

John W. Macconnell.

Wm. Tingey.

Henry C. Waters.

Wm. H. Wyeth.

2d. Mass. Cavalry Vols.

Joseph Donovan.

Wm. R. Jackson.

Thomas Palmer.

Augustine Sorg.

3d. Mass. Cavalry Vols.

Charles M. Bridges.

Charles D. Johnson.

William Laws.

Edward P. White.

Seventh Tablet

4th. Mass. Cavalry Vols.

George A. Jewett.

George P. Welch.

5th Mass. Cavalry Vols.

Sergt. Wm. H. Keene.

Charles C. Fatal.

Austin Jefferson.

Robert Thornton.

1st Mass. Heavy Artillery.

2d. Lt. Howard Carroll.

Timothy Condlin.

Augustus Cunningham.

Michael McVey.

John O'Conner.

Daniel F. Smith.

Charles F. York.

2d. Mass. Heavy Artillery.

Corp. John Hamilton.

John Dunn.

Charles F. Edwards.

3d. Mass. Heavy Artillery.

Thomas Long.

1st. Mass. Battery.

Thomas Neville.

2d. Mass. Battery.

John M. S. Lernard.

3d. Mass. Battery.

Herbert L. Emerson.

John H. Maguire.

James B. Robinson.

6th. Mass. Battery.

John O'Hare.

9th. Mass. Battery.

Sergt. John L. Fenton.

Corp. Lucian. J. Sanderson.

10th. Mass. Battery.

Henry L. Ewell.

11th. Mass. Battery.

Milo H. Daily.

George W. Hearsey.

12th. Mass. Battery.

Alios Kolb.

13th. Mass. Battery.

Sergt. Charles Bisbee.

15th. Mass. Battery.

H. Gray Chipman.

11th. U.S. Infantry.

Capt. Thomas O. Barri.

Benjamin F. Garland.

Thomas F. Ryan.

17th U.S. Infantry.

1st. Lt. Frank E. Stimson.

Eighth Tablet

1st. U.S. Artillery.

Charles A. Carter.

James D. Paul.

10th. U.S. Col'd. Heavy Artillery.

1st. Lt. W. Carey Rice.

31st. Maine Inf. Vols.

1st. Lt. Wm. Bradford Allyn.

2d. N.H. Inf. Vols.

George H. Stearns.

6th. N.H. Inf. Vols.

Stephen Moore.

40th N.Y. Inf. Vols.

James Angling.

74th N.Y. Inf. Vols.

2d. Lt. Rudolph N. Anderson.

Sergt. W. H. H. Babcock.

Corp. Erastus R. Bullard.

George Cubery.

Charles W. Emery.

George F. Falls.

Thomas Gaffney.

Francis Graham.

Winfield S. Gurney.

Joseph Hodges, Jr.

Wm. Johnson.

John McCarthy.

Albert McKown.

Edwin R. Pearson.

Philip J. Quinn.

Thomas Wilson.

Ast. Surgeon Wm. Longshaw, Jr. U. S. Steam Frigate Minnesota.

Ast. Surgeon Henry Sylvanus Plympton, U.S.N.

Ast. Engineer John M. Whittemore, U.S. Steam Sloop Mohican.

Gunner Jacob Amee, U.S. Ship Mercedita.

Charles F. Brown, U.S.N.

George Bacon, U.S.N.

Notes and Sources

I found a great deal of information about the original design of the Cambridge Soldiers' Monument as well as the dedication ceremonies on a book about it published by the city of Cambridge:

City Government of Cambridge, Mass, The Soldiers' Monument in Cambridge: Proceedings in relation to the Building and Dedication of the Monument Erected in the Years 1869–70 (Press of John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, 1870).

I gathered additional information about the monument and subsequent additions to in from Cambridge Newspapers. In particular:

 "New Tablets for Soldiers' Monument," The Cambridge Chronicle, February 11, 1927, p. 20: Describes plan to add three tables to the monument.

"Lincoln Statue Now Completes G.A.R. Monument," The Cambridge Chonricle, June 3, 1937, pp. 1,6: Dedication of Lincoln statue.