Revolutionary Monument, (sculpture).

Revolutionary Monument, (sculpture).

Parker, Charles E., designer.

Eastman & Hutchinson, fabricator.

Revolutionary Monument, (sculpture).

Davis Monument, (sculpture).

Dedicated Oct. 29, 1851.

Digital Reference:

Quarry faced granite.

Approx. 75 x 14 1/2 x 14 1/2 ft.

(On inset tablet, front face of monument:) THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS/& THE TOWN OF ACTON/COOPERATING TO PERPETUATE THE FAME/OF GLORIOUS DEEDS OF PATRIOTISM, HAVE/ERECTED THIS MONUMENT IN HONOR OF/CAPT. ISAAC DAVIS/& PRIVATES ABNER HOSMER & JAMES HAYWARD,/CITIZEN-SOLDIERS OF ACTON & PROVINCIAL MINUTE-/MEN, WHO FELL IN CONCORD FIGHT THE 19TH OF APRIL/A.D. 1775./ON THE MORNING OF THAT EVENTFUL DAY THE/PROVINCIAL OFFICERS HELD A COUNCIL OF/WAR NEAR THE OLD NORTH BRIDGE IN/CONCORD AND, AS THEY SEPARATED, DAVIS EXCLAIMED, "I HAV'NT (sic) A MAN THAT IS AFRAID TO GO."/AND IMMEDIATELY MARCHED HIS COMPANY FROM THE/LEFT TO THE RIGHT OF THE LINE, AND LED IN THIS/FIRST ORGANIZED ATTACK UPON THE/TROOPS OF GEORGE III IN THAT MEMORABLE WAR,/WHICH BY THE HELP OF GOD, MADE THE/THIRTEEN COLONIES INDEPENDENT OF GREAT/BRITAIN, AND GAVE POLITICAL BEING TO THE/UNITED STATES OF AMERICA/ACTON APR 19, 1851

The monument is in the form of an obelisk on an arched Romanesque pedestal. A vault in its base contains the remains of three soldiers. Set into the sides of the earth mound on which the monument stands are the original slate gravestones from the soldiers' graves. Also set into the mound is the stepping stone from the causeway of the North Bridge in Concord.

History -- United States -- Revolution

Homage -- Davis, Isaac

Homage -- Hosmer, Abner

Homage -- Hayward, James

Outdoor Sculpture -- Massachusetts -- Acton

Administered by Town of Acton, Municipal Properties, 472 Main Street, Acton, Massachusetts 01720

Located Acton Common, Intersection of Main Street, Concord Road & Wood Lane, Acton, Massachusetts

The monument was built at the joint expense of the Town of Acton and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to honor Captain Isaac Davis of Acton, the first officer to fall in the Revolution and two of his privates. When the monument was erected in 1851, the remains of these soldiers were exhumed and placed in a single coffin with three compartments. The coffin was placed in the vault in the base of the monument. In 1900 the town of Concord gave Acton the stepping stone from the causeway of the Old North Bridge upon which Davis supposedly fell when he was shot by the British.

IAS files contain transcriptions of the text of the three gravestones and nearby plaque. IAS files contain copies of related materials from "Acton's 250th Anniversary 1735-1985,"; and "Yankee Magazine," April 1961, pp. 64+.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Massachusetts survey, 1994.

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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Horizon Information Portal 3.25_9382

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