10th Regiment at Old Burial Ground on Sept. 7. / Stewart Ikeda photos
Scores of Arlingtonians, out-of-town guests and representatives of the town and of the British Consulate gathered in the Old Burying Ground on a sunny Sept. 7 for the dedication of a new permanent monument in memory of fallen British Crown soldiers killed at the Battle of Menotomy on April 19, 1775.
A project of the Arlington 250 Committee and Arlington Historical Society (AHS), the monument was spearheaded by George Parsons, first vice president of the AHS. The marker is in the location where underground imaging discovered a mass unmarked grave toward the rear of the burying ground, just off Peg Spengler Way.
George Parsons
Major Gen. William Rapp, U.S. Army (Ret.)What marker says
Fabricated by Oak Grove Memorials of Medford, the marker’s front side reads, “Forty British Regulars Died in Menotomy on April 19, 1775 As They Retreated from Lexington and Concord. They Are Buried Here in a Mass Grave. THEY ANSWERED THE CALL OF KING AND COUNTRY – They are Remembered and Respectfully Acknowledged.”
Inscribed on its cenotaph side are the phrases, “WHETHER BURIED HERE OR ELSEWHERE WITH NAMES KNOWN OR LOST TO HISTORY. THE HUMANITY OF THESE BRAVE MEN IS RESPECTFULLY ACKNOWLEDGED.
“I do not know where the body of my dear boy lies, but his soul is here Dedicated September 2024” accompanied by a QR code, leading to expanded information and the names of known dead listed on the AHS website.
The marker’s planning process and design closely followed that of the marker for Menotomy’s Enslaved & Free Persons of Color spearheaded by local hostorian Richard Duffy and dedicated on Juneteenth 2023, which also was identified using underground imaging.
Remarks for this weekend’s ceremony were shared by Angela Olszewski, cochair, Arlington 250 Committee; Parsons, chairman, Monument Committee; and William Rapp, major general, U.S. Army (Ret.), who spoke about the life of a British Regular soldier in 1775 America.
Reenactors in procession
Reenactors with His Majesty’s 10th Regiment of Foot, commanded by Lt Colonel Michael Graves, appeared in a concluding procession followed by a reception in nearby Whittemore-Robbins House.
Providing additional support for the monument and ceremony were the Arlington Commission for Arts & Culture, British and Commonwealth Remembrance Committee, Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area, Town of Arlington, Arlington Cemetery Commission & Cemetery Staff, Arlington Historical Commission and the work of Geophysical Survey Systems Inc. of Nashua, N.H.
The charge of the Semiquincentennial Committee (Arlington 250) is to coordinate townwide activities commemorating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution and Arlington’s critical role in its first battle. Spotlighting the unmarked mass graves of these groups of forgotten dead reflects the committee’s official 250 organizing theme, “Untold Stories of Menotomy.”
Sept. 3, 2024: Dedication for monument to fallen crown soldiers includes a ‘secret’
This news summary by Stewart Ikeda, cochair of the Arlington Commission of Arts & Culture, who attended the event, was published Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024.
