The Soldiers' Monument, (sculpture).

The Soldiers' Monument, (sculpture).

Batterson, James Goodwin, 1823-1901, sculptor. (possibly by)

Richards, Joseph R., active ca. 1852-1901, designer.

Cram and Ferguson, architectural firm.

Ames Manufacturing Company, founder.

Sawyer Construction Company, contractor.

New England Granite Works, fabricator. (possibly by)

The Soldiers' Monument, (sculpture).

Civil War Memorial Statue, (sculpture).

Dedicated July 28, 1868. Reinstalled 1928.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: stone.

Sculpture: approx. 96 x 55 x 55 in.; Base: approx. 104 x 84 x 84 in.

Ames Foundry, Chicopee, MA (Front of base:) 1861/1865 Founder's mark appears.

A male figure in Union Army uniform with a long coat and cap stands at parade rest. The moustached soldier grasps the nozzle of his musket with both hands while leaning on the butt of the gun. The head is turned to the proper left (facing south), and the proper left foot is forward as if to walk off the base. The soldier is mounted upon a tall, octagonal base.

History -- United States -- Civil War

Figure male -- Full length

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

Outdoor Sculpture -- Massachusetts -- Williamstown

Administered by Williams College, Williamsiana, Stetson Hall, Williamstown, Massachusetts 01267

Located Williams College, Route 2, north side, College Hill, in front of Griffin Hall, Williamstown, Massachusetts 01267

The monument cost between $9,000 and $10,000 and was commissioned by the Society of Alumni of Williams College to commemorate Williams College students who died in the Civil War. Planning and fund raising occurred from 1863 to 1866, and the college is reportedly among the first to commemorate its Civil War dead with a monument. The base has been replaced; the original stone base, which may have included the names of fallen Williams students, was ornate and stepped, with peaked decorations. The monument is credited with Joseph R. Richards as architect/designer, James Goodwin Batterson as modeller/sculptor, the Ames Foundry as the foundry that cast the sculpture from a model, but it is unclear what roles each actually played. Richards could have designed the landscape around the monument, including a surrounding iron railing, which no longer exists. Batterson, owner of the New England Granite Works, may have provided the original base and its limestone edge. The sculpture may have been a catalog piece from Ames Foundry, as it reportedly bears a strong resemblance to the Civil War Monument in neighboring North Adams.

Around 1926, in a controversial move between the College and the Town of Williamstown, the sculpture was removed from its original base while the site, referred to as "College Hill" was graded by the town. The original base was destroyed. A new base was designed by Cram and Ferguson, and the monument was reinstalled by the Sawyer Construction Company in 1928. Controversy continued to arise when the E. P. Hopkins Post 209 of the G.A.R. asked the college to include names of the town veterans on a bronze plaque on the reinstalled monument, the town having no Civil War monument of its own. The alumni consented, but it was ultimately decided to rededicate the monument to all those who fought in the Civil War, without names.

Additional information on the sculpture is available at the Williamstown House of Local History. For related reading see: The Williams Quarterly 14 (Aug. 1867): pg. 247; Calvin Durfee's "Biographical Annals of Williams College," Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1871, pg. 205, which includes a discussion of the dedication; Arthur Lathan Perry's "Williamstown and Williams College: A History," Norwood, MA: Author, 1904, pg. 639; Leveret Wilson Spring's "A History of Williams College," Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, The Riverside Press, 1917, pg. 191; and The Williams Alumni Review 17 (May 1925): pg. 277.

IAS files contain a photocopied image of the sculpture on it original base from around 1883, and a photocopied image of the original base without the soldier upon it. IAS files contain the following: Minutes of the Trustees Meeting, Williams College, May 1926, pg. 160, Oct. 1926, pg. 179, Oct. 1927, pg. 220, May 1928, pg. 236; North Adams Transcript: July 19, 23, 25, 26, 27, 1927; The Williams Alumni Review 53 (May 1961), including a list of Williams Civil War dead; The Berskshire Eagle, March 21, 1978. IAS files contain additional citations.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Massachusetts survey, 1994.

The Williams Alumni Review 53 (May 1961): cover.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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