1861 Ball's Bluff Flag

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"THE LION AT THE LIBRARY"

 

Photos courtesy of Gerald Darrell

 

"Soon after the return of the [20th Mass.] regiment, a fund was raised among its friends, with which was purchased and erected to its memory the Lion from the studio of St. Gaudens on the stairway of the Boston Public Library. An alcove in the same building was also fitted up with appropriate memorial tablets, and the sum of five thousand dollars was put in the hands of the Trustees for the purchase of military books to be placed thereon." --from the Regimental History.

 


 

The text on the monument states:
"IN HONOR OF THE TWENTIETH MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY AND IN REMEMBRANCE OF ITS OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL IN ITS RANKS THIS MONUMENT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO THE CITY OF BOSTON"

Two lions still reside today at the alcove of the Boston Public Library, honoring two famous regiments: the Second Massachusetts Infantry ("Gordon's Regulars") and the Twentieth Massachusetts.

 

  


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