Location: Veterans Memorial Park and Field, Moore Street, Erving
Coordinates: 42°35’04.9″N 72°29’25.3″W
Date dedicated: May 21, 2005
Design/Sculptor/Manufacturer: Athol Granite Works
On May 21, 2005, the town of Erving, Massachusetts, dedicated a monument to honor its residents who served in the Civil War. The monument is located in Erving’s Veterans Memorial Park, which also features memorials commemorating veterans of the Revolutionary War, Spanish-American War, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War. The Civil War monument specifically pays tribute to the local men who answered the call to service between 1861 and 1865.
The monument lists 63 men who served from Erving, including 16 who died in service. The largest group of these recruits, 13 in all, served with the 27th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment—all but one of them in Company B. This regiment was formed in the fall of 1861, with companies recruited from various western Massachusetts towns.
The 27th Massachusetts saw significant action throughout the war, participating in battles such as Roanoke Island, New Bern, and the siege of Washington, North Carolina. Later in the war, the regiment was deployed to Virginia as part of the Bermuda Hundred Campaign. In May 1864, during the Battle of Proctor’s Creek, they suffered heavy losses, with many soldiers taken prisoner and subjected to the brutal conditions of Confederate prison camps like Andersonville. Among them was Private Merrick Packard, a 21-year-old farmer from Erving, who was captured at Proctor’s Creek and endured three months at Andersonville before succumbing to the hardships of imprisonment in August 1864. He now rests in the national cemetery there.[1]
The Erving Civil War monument project was undertaken by a town committee to address a significant omission—while Erving had several war memorials, there was no tribute to those who served in the Civil War. Committee member and former Selectman William Bembry led the extensive research effort to compile an accurate list of local soldiers who served and those who were lost. The dedication weekend was a fitting tribute, featuring reenactors portraying soldiers from the 10th Massachusetts, a western Massachusetts regiment, and the 25th Massachusetts, a unit from central Massachusetts. The event also included a procession with 26 participating groups, ranging from police and fire departments to fife and drum companies.[2]
[1] Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the Civil War (Boston: Adjutant General’s Office, 1931)
[2] David Vallette, “Erving to Honor Civil War Troops,” Springfield Republican, February 28, 2005, 3. And David Vallette, “Erving Sets Celebration a Week Early,” Sunday Republican, May 15, 2005, C1.