DEDICATION. EDNESDAY, July 13, 1870, was designated by the Committee for the dedication of the Monument. The most elaborate preparations were made; nothing being omitted that, in their judgment, could enhance the interest and pleasure of the occasion. As had been arranged, a procession was formed, under the chief-marshalship of General CHARLES F. WALCOTT, a Cambridge soldier, which was escorted by the National Lancers of Boston (the finest company of cavalry in the State), under the command of Captain GEORGE E. RICHARDSON, of Cambridge, a gentleman well known for his public-spirited and patriotic exertions during the war, in behalf of the soldiers and their families. The weather was fine, and imparted additional beauty to the tasteful and appropriate decorations which adorned the dwellings, and stores, and public buildings, on those streets through which the procession passed. The route was thronged with people, which showed the great interest in the occasion that pervaded the community. The plans of the Committee were carried out in the happiest and most successful manner; all who had an allotted part seeming to vie with each other in the determination that "Dedication Day" should be a day worthy of remembrance. His Excellency the Governor, with his staff and many military and naval officers of distinction, were waited upon at the State House by the Committee of Arrangements, and accompanied in carriages to Cambridge, where, at twelve o'clock, they were received and welcomed by the Mayor and other members of the government. Immediately after, the cortege moved in the following order: THE PROCESSION. Aids Platoon of Police. Chelsea Brass Band, mounted. Chief Marshal General CHARLES F. WALCOTT. Gen. S. E. Chamberlain, Col. S. W. Richardson, Col. A. H. Stevens, Company of National Lancers, Capt. George E. Richardson, 95 in number. Gilmore's Band. Company C, Fifth Regiment M.V.M., Capt. R. L. B. Fox, 72 men. Veterans of Company F, Thirty-eighth Regiment, Capt. T. P. Rundlett, 23 men. Veterans, 75 in number, commanded by Capt. George H. Taylor. Brown's Brigade Band. Grand Army Battalion, under command of Marshal J. W. Cotton. His Honor the Mayor, President of the Council, accompanied by his Excel lency the Governor, and Staff. Orator of the Day and Chaplain. Officers of the Army and Navy. Designers of the Monument, Architect, and Contractors. City Government and City Officers. Soldiers of 1812. Past and present Members of the City Government, Members of the Legislature, and Invited Guests. Cambridge Brass Band. Fire Department. Chief Engineer George B. Eaton. Assistants — Thomas J. Casey, J. H. Marvin, P. H. Raymond, E. F. Belcher. Franklin Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, Capt. Thomas Drinan. Hydrant Hose Company No. 4, Capt. A. Norris. Engine Company No. 1, Capt. John Kennear. THE ROUTE. Through Cambridge Street to Windsor Street; through Windsor to Broadway; Broadway to Columbia; Columbia to Main; Main to Lee; Lee to Harvard; Harvard Street and Harvard Square to North Avenue; North Avenue to Sacramento; and countermarching to the Common through Waterhouse and Garden Streets. When the head of the column reached the Common, it was welcomed by a salute from the battery near by, under charge of Capt. F. A. LULL. A spacious tent, which had been pitched directly in front of the Monument, though altogether inadequate to accommodate the throng, — received a considerable portion of those forming the procession, together with numbers of ladies who had been furnished with tickets of admission. On the platform were seated his Excellency the Governor; his Honor the Mayor; President Eliot of Harvard College; Mayor Shurtleff of Boston; Messrs. Cyrus and Darius Cobb, designers and sculptors; Joseph H. Converse, Esq., President of the Common Council; the Orator, and others who were to participate in the exercises of the occasion, which were observed as in the following arrangement: ORDER OF EXERCISES. Music. Prayer by the Rev. PLINY WOOD. Presentation of the Monument to the City by Ald. JOHN S. MARCH, in behalf of the Committee. Unveiling of the Statue. Acceptance of the Monument by his HONOR THE MAYOR. Music. Oration by the Rev. ALEXANDER MCKENZIE. National Salute and Music. After appropriate music, prayer was offered by the Reverend Chaplain, PLINY WOOD. Alderman JOHN S. MARCH then addressed the Mayor, in behalf of the Committee, and formally placed the structure in charge of the City, speaking as follows: PRESENTATION ADDRESS, BY ALDERMAN JOHN S. MARCH. MR. MAYOR: The Committee of the City Council, charged with the duty of erecting a suitable memorial to those soldiers and sailors of Cambridge, who died in the war for the maintenance of the Union, having completed their work, would now resign it into your hands, as the Chief Magistrate of our city; henceforth to be its custodian. The formal presentation which the occasion demands, has been intrusted to me by the partiality of my associates on the Committee; and in carrying out their wishes, -a service which is at once a duty and a pleasure,- -a brief account of their doings will serve as a history of the building of the structure. Immediately upon the close of the war of the Rebellion, our people began to discuss the subject of commemorating those sons of Cambridge, who had perished in the service; and while there appeared to be a general desire to go on, there was much difference of opinion as to the most appropriate form of memorial, and to the mode of proceeding. There were those who desired that a City Hall should be built, in a room of which, to be provided for the purpose, the names of the soldiers should be inscribed on mural tablets; others, who thought it most proper to set apart a lot of land in our cemetery, and there erect a monument; others, who maintained that the fittest way to show our gratitude, was to provide at the public charge for the support and education of the orphans of our lost sons; and still others who maintained that the only proper course was to secure a conspicuous site in the heart of the city, and there build an edifice, that, while it would suitably commemorate those whose names and services we desired to cherish and perpetuate, should be creditable to us as a work of art, and worthy of the historical character of Cambridge. Amidst all this diversity of views, there was no contrariety of opinion in regard to the duty. It was believed that it was only necessary to inaugurate proceedings, and all would co-operate. And so it proved. |