Springfield Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
Springfield’s Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument is an imposing granite column of over 40 feet topped by a standing Union soldier. Funded by Gurdon Bill, a wealthy local resident who later became President of the Springfield & New London Railroad Company, the memorial was then gifted to the Wilcox Post 16 of the G. A. R. The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, which was created at the cost of $10,000, was erected in Springfield’s Court Square and dedicated on September 29, 1885; contemporaneous reports affirm that over 1200 men were involved in the dedicatory procession. The monument’s bronze tablets include an excerpt from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, and honour the 2,485 Springfield soldiers who fought in the Civil War as well as all those who died for the Union cause. The monument was designed by M. H. Mosman, as stated on its west-side tablet, however the statue cast was provided by the Ames Foundry in Chicopee; it’s likeness can be seen in several other Massachusetts memorials.
Monument type:
Victory column
Artist:
M. H. Mosman
Dedication Date:
September 29, 1885
Address:
USA
Inscription:
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Conception Date:
c.1884
Opening Date:
Material:
Column - granite; Statue - bronze; Trimmings/tablets - bronze
Size:
" x " x 516"
Creator:
M. S. Mosman/Ames Foundry, Chicopee
Cost / Value:
Erected by:
The City of Springfield
Funded by:
Gurdon Bill ($10,000)
Run by:
Indigenous Land
Organization/Curator:
Read below for one of our contributor’s reflections on this monument