Civil War Monument, Somerville, Massachusetts

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Somerville, Massachusetts

Introduction

The city of Somerville holds the claim of having erected the first memorial to the fallen veterans of the Civil War that is still standing in its original position. Located on Somerville Avenue, the Civil War Monument is located in the Milk Row Cemetery and was dedicated in the summer of 1863. It was erected by the Somerville Light Infantry, the local militia, with surplus money from a fund that had been raised for soldiers' pay.

The monument contains tablets on three sides, bearing the names of Somerville soldiers who died or were killed in the war. As the war was not yet over when the monument was erected, names were added to the obelisk above the original engraved tablets as more veterans died, for a total of 69 names.

On the front is a tablet with this inscription: “ Their warfare is over, they sleep well.”

Veterans

Name	Regiment	Died
Lt. J. Rafferty	9th Mass.	Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862
M. Haseltine	12th Mass.
J. Millen	22d Mass.	Gaines Mills, June 22, 1862
J. McGuire	9th Mass.	Gaines Mills, June 27, 1862
H. McGlone	9th Mass.	Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862
A. E. Mitchell	12th Mass.	Bull Run, Aug. 19, 1862
N. Haseltine	12th Mass.
Lt. W. Berry	22d Mass.	Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862
C. Young	29th Mass.	Craney Island, Sept. 17, 1862
E. McDonald	21st Mass.	Somerville, Sept. 6, 1862
W. Blackwell	99th N.Y.	Norfolk, Oct. 12, 1862
T. H. Pitman	22d Mass.	Annapolis, Feb. 27, 1863
N. Davis	31st Mass.	Baton Rouge, Mar. 27, 1863
A. G. Lovejoy	2nd Mass. Batt'y	Baton Rouge, Mar. 27, 1863
J. W. Langley		Somerville, Jan. 10, 1863
J. Ducey	38th Mass.	Port Hudson, May 27, 1863
Sgt. N. W. Wilson	11th Mass.	Gettysburg, July 4, 1863
F. McQuade	38th Mass.	Oct 16, 1863
Leonard F. Purington	15th Mass.	Georgetown, July 22, 1865
Fred A. Galletly	23d Mass.	Aug. 5, 1864
John Holland	15th Mass.	July, 1863
James McLaughlin	28th Mass.	Dec, 1862
John O'Brien	12th N.Y. Cav.	Somerville, 1863
Wm. McDonald	21st Mass.	Roanoke Island
Henry McVey	U.S. Navy	Salisbury, July 31, 1864
E. Franklin Hanaford		Bull Run, July 21, 1861
W. Frank Moore		Washington, July 31, 1861
Lieut. Edward Brackett	10th Me.	Antietam, September 18, 1862
Samuel G. Tompkins		Newbern, June 22, 1863
N. Fletcher Nelson	23d Mass.	Richmond, June 11, 1864
Lieut. T. J. Van de Sande	115th N.Y.	Ft. Munroe, Sept. 3, 1864
Wm. Plant	28th Mass.	Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1863
Frank Doherty	56th Mass.	Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864
Lieut. W. W. Warden	1st Mass. Cav.	Richmond, May 28, 1864
Patrick McCarty	16th Mass.	Fair Oaks, June 18, 1862
Patrick Hayes	5th Mass.	Somerville, 1862
Alonzo W. Temple		New Orleans, July 7, 1863
C. C. Walden	U.S. Navy	Lost in the Brig Bainbridge
Caleb Howard	58th Mass.	Sept. 30, 1861
Mich'l Driscoll	U.S. Navy	Texas, Sept. 8, 1863
Patrick Sheridan	26th Mass.	N. Orleans, July 1, 1864
Elias Manning	22nd Mass.	May 15, 1864
Wm. Connellon	28th Mass.	Hospital, Md., June 12, 1864
Capt. Willard Kinsley	39th Mass.	City Point, April 2, 1865
S. P. Rollins	39th Mass.	Poolesville, Nov. 22, 1862
E. F. Keniston	39th Mass.	Somerville, April 28, 1863
Fred A. Glines	39th Mass.	Salisbury, Jan. 6, 1865
David Gorham	39th Mass.	Prison, Dec. 10, 1864
John E. Horton	39th Mass.	Prison, Jan. 6, 1865
Geo. H. Hatch	39th Mass.	Prison, Feb. 1, 1865
Chas. G. Jones	39th Mass.	Prison, Nov. 23, 1864
David Kendrick	39th Mass.	Prison, March 10, 1865
Eugene B. Hadley	39th Mass.	Petersburg, Feb. 7, 1865
Richard J. Hyde	39th Mass.	Prison, Aug. 13, 1864
Francis J. Oliver	39th Mass.	Prison, Oct. 10, 1864
James Moran	39th Mass.	Washington, Aug. 7, 1865
Augustus Benze	39th Mass.	Utica, Sept. 6, 1864
J. W. Whitmore	39th Mass.	Prison, Oct., 1864
Washington Lovett	39th Mass.	Prison, Sept. 8, 1864
Robert T. Powers	39th Mass.	Wilderness, May 7, 1864
Wm. D. Palmer	39th Mass.	Wilderness, May 7, 1864
Samuel O. Felker	39th Mass.	Wilderness, May 7, 1864
Geo. W. Ayers	24th Mass.	Dec. 24, 1864
E. H. Kendall	13th Mass.	Dec. 1, 1863
John W. Coffee	26th Mass.	April 19, 1865
Edwin D. Cate	1st Mass. Cav.	Prison, Jan. 13, 1864
I. C. Whittemore	18th Mass.	Lincoln Plant'n, Me., April 10, 1865
Michael Clifford	1st Mass. H.A.	April 22, 1865

Sources

• Haley, M.A., The Story of Somerville, 1903
• Conserve Art, Milk Row Cemetery, Somerville, Massachusetts, Conserve-art.com
• The Civil War Monument of Milk Row Cemetery, Historic Somerville, accessed 11 May 2020
• Massachusetts Civil War Memorial Project, Milk Row Cemetery Monument, published 7 July 2018, accessed 15 May 2020