Location: Liberty Park, 3 Washington Street
Coordinates: 42°23’29.4″N 71°34’13.2″W
Date dedicated: June 17, 1928
Architect/contractor/sculptor: John G. Hardy, sculptor and designer
During the war, Hudson was known as Feltonville. It was an industrial village and part of Marlborough, known for its many shoe mills. In 1866, the town successfully petitioned to be set off from its parent town. Hudson did not build a separate Civil War monument but in 1927 placed a war memorial to their soldiers in three wars. Though war memorials of this sort are not, strictly speaking, Civil War monuments, they do nonetheless serve as a means memorializing the war. Such honor rolls are therefore included in the scope of this project when a town has no specific monument dedicated to the Civil War.
Citizens voted at the 1927 annual meeting to appoint a committee to build a memorial to Hudson’s soldiers of the Civil War, the Spanish American War, and World War I. Roughly 30 design proposals were collected and eight were chosen by the committee and exhibited for selection by popular vote. The design ultimately chosen was by John G. Hardy of Brooklyn. The statue was meant to represent the allegorical American soldier. A local clergyman described the concept as follows, saying it symbolized…
…Self-sacrifice inspired by lofty idealism. The sacrifice is voluntary…the head suggests the poised strength of spiritual exaltation of one who, motivated by high ideals, is deliberate in his self-giving. With breast bared, YOUTH is ready to receive the stroke. Nor does the accoutrement of the soldier spoil the symbolism. The shield thrown wide makes no attempt to parry. The sword is grasped not by the aggressive hilt but by the cutting edge.[1]
The monument lists 198 who served, 29 of whom died in service. The memorial was dedicated on June 17, 1928.[2] The orator of the day was Charles F. McCarthy, a former member of the General Court, former mayor of Marlborough, and a veteran of the Spanish American War. Three surviving Civil War veterans were present for the ceremonies: Freeman Bennett, Daniel Sawyer, and Charles Wood.
The primary inscription reads, “In honor of those who fought for our country.”
[1] “War Memorial,” Annual Reports of Town Officers of Hudson, Massachusetts, 1928 (Boston: E. L. Grimes, 1929), 143.
[2] Annual Reports, Hudson, 1928, 148.