American Civil War Monuments

Massachusetts Memorial 

Vicksburg National Military Park

Grant Avenue,Vicksburg, MS

 Photo courtesy of LCWRT Member Paul Fridell, text by Holly Jenkins-Evans

This striding bronze infantryman on a 15 ton boulder of Massachusetts granite honors 3 Massachusetts regiments of the 9th Corps of the Army of the Tennessee, the 29th, 35th Mass, 36th Infantry regiments, commanded by Lt. Col. Joseph H. Barnes and positioned on William T. Sherman’s exterior line.

The Massachusetts State Memorial is located on Grant Avenue at Grant Circle. It was the first state memorial erected within Vicksburg National Military Park. Sculpted by Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson, and erected at a cost of $4500, this was the first state memorial at Vicksburg. Dedicated on November 14, 1903. Kitson was the first woman sculptor to be admitted to the National Sculptors Society and studied in Paris. She became a major artist in the early 20th century. Kitson sculpted 73 busts, bas reliefs and monuments at Vicksburg National Military Park.  

The Memorial carries the State Seal of Massachusetts and a plaque in Tribute to the 29th, 35th and 36th Regiments Volunteer infantry as well as the 9th Corps Badge.