Seven Allegorical Female Statues Adorn the Soldiers & Sailors Monument on Boston Common

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Irish-born sculptor Martin Milmore created a masterpiece with his signature sculpture, Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Boston Common, unveiled on September 17, 1877 as a homage to the Civil War dead.   The monument took five years to complete, and much of the work was done in Rome, Italy, where Milmore moved in late 1872 in order to gain inspiration from classical art and to escape the distractions of Boston.  His brother Joseph Milmore stayed in Boston during this period and handled the architectural and engineering portions of the project, including the base of the monument, the circular pavement around it,  and the three pathways leading up to Flagstaff Hill from the lower part of Boston Common.


Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Courtesy of Daedalus Conservation

According to published specifications, the granite column stands seventy feet, and has the shape of a square fort with bastions. Of the nine sculptures on the monument, two depict men and the other seven figures represent women. 

The Genius of America, Courtesy of Daedalus Conservation

The central piece is called The Genius of America and stands atop the monument.  The eleven feet high  bronze statue features "an imposing statue representing America....a woman, majestically proportioned, clad in a flowing robe...upon her head is a crown of 13 stars. The head is slightly bowed, and the eyes cast down," according to notes in the monument's official program, issued in 1877. "The cap on her head is encircled by thirteen stars, her left hand holds the star-spangled banner, and her right hand, adorned with a wreath of laurel, grasps the sword by which the Flag of the Union is ever to be defended."


Four Figures Representing North, South, East & West, Courtesy Friends of Public Garden

Below the Genius of America figure, on the lower part of the column are four granite female figures carved in bold relief, "representing the North, the South, the East, and the West, appropriately placed, signifying that the country will be sustained in every quarter, under whatever emergency."


Soldier & Sailor, Courtesy of IrishBoston.org

At the end of the column connecting to the base of the monument are four 8 feet high bronze figures.  The  two male figures represent the Army and Navy.  The models for these figures are said to be two of Milmore's brothers, Joseph and James, both talented sculptors and stone cutters in their own right. 


Peace and History figures, Courtesy of IrishBoston.org   

They are joined by two female figures representing Peace, "with her glad promise of the future," and History, "ready to continue her record," according to the program book.

Departure for the War mezzo-rilievo, Courtesy of Irishboston.org 

In addition to the nine sculpted figures are four mezzo-rilievos representing these scenes, depicting scenes of the four-year Civil War, with as many as 40 figures carved into the bronze. Among the figures are multiple soldiers and sailors, nurses and doctors, wives and children, along with a number of leading Boston citizens at the time. They include Governor John Andrew, Boston’s Catholic John Archbishop Williams, Wendell Phillips, Henry W. Longfellow, Rev. Phillips Brooks and Charles Sumner, Caroline Louisa Parsons and Edward Everett Hale. Among the military leaders were Colonel Thomas Cass of the 9th Irish Regiment and Colonel Robert G. Shaw of the 54th Black Regiment.

The Boston Parks and Recreation Department oversees the Boston Common, the nation's oldest public park established in 1634.  Read about the Boston Common Master Plan recently complete that looks ahead to the park's future. 

In 2022, the Friends of the Public Garden worked with Daedalus Conservation to refurbish parts of the monument, including the bronze figures and the granite structure.  

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument along Boston's Irish Heritage Trail, which explores 300+ years of Boston Irish history. 


Research + Text, Michael Quinlin




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