West Brookfield

Location: Town Common, corner of North Main Street and East Main Street, West Brookfield
Coordinates: 42°14’08.6″N 72°08’22.8″W
Date dedicated: May 30, 1921
Design/Sculptor/Manufacturer: Unknown

[After World War I, many towns that lacked Civil War monuments chose to erect “honor roll” memorials, featuring plaques that recognized soldiers from multiple conflicts. While these memorials stray beyond the primary focus of this project, it would feel inappropriate to exclude them—particularly in towns without a dedicated Civil War monument, where these honor rolls serve as the only tribute to those who served or sacrificed in that war.]

The West Brookfield War Memorial on the town common memorializes residents who served in the Civil War, the Spanish American War, and World War I. Two of the three bronze plaques list those who served in the Civil War while the third plaque is dedicated to servicemen of the latter two wars.

On the day of the dedication, May 30, 1921, Mr. Edwin Wilbur, chair of the monument committee, led the procession. Local veterans of World War I formed a large part of the formation. The monument was unveiled by two granddaughters of John W. Adams, a West Brookfield Civil War veteran who started a fund for a Civil War monument years before World War I.[1] Sadly, Adams passed away in 1913 and did not see his efforts come to fruition. Charles M. Gardner of Springfield, Massachusetts was the orator of the day.[2] He was a prominent leader of the National Grange, an organization still active today that promotes husbandry and agriculture.

The monument lists 146 men from West Brookfield who served in the war. Thirty of them never returned home. Many of West Brookfield’s soldiers were part of the 15th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment (a Worcester County unit), specifically Company F, which was mostly composed of men from the Brookfields.

The 15th Massachusetts Regiment was one of the Commonwealth’s most war-torn units. They were actively engaged in numerous major battles in the Eastern Theater of the war. Their first significant engagement occurred on October 21, 1861, at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, where they suffered substantial losses. The regiment also faced severe casualties at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, enduring 343 casualties (more than half their numbers) in less than 20 minutes—the highest losses of any regiment on that day.

West Brookfield’s Justus C. Wellington was killed in action at Antietam, and William L. Adams, Albert W. Livermore, and William E. Vanever were mortally wounded during this battle.[3] Many a Worcester County town, including West Brookfield, must have reeled in the aftermath of Antietam with the arrival of such terrible news about the 15th Massachusetts’s losses.