Cabot Jackson Russell( 1844 – 1863)
William Tilton( 1828 – 1889)
Walter Raymond York( 1894 – 1921)
Cabot Jackson Russell( 1844 – 1863)
Lot 2149, Lime Avenue
Cabot Jackson Russell enlisted in the 44th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment in September 1862, at age 18. He was promoted to Captain in May 1863, commanding Company H of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment under Col. Robert Gould Shaw( also memorialized at Mount Auburn). The 54th was one of the first official African American regiments in the Union Army. Russell was killed on the parapet during the Second Battle of Fort Wagner in Charleston, SC, in July 1863. He was buried there alongside Shaw, who died in the same battle. Russell’ s monument at Mount Auburn is a cenotaph.
William Tilton( 1828 – 1889)
Lot 1763, Eglantine Path
William Tilton was a businessman originally from Newburyport, MA. He enlisted in the 22nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment in September 1861, at the rank of First Lieutenant, and was promoted to Major in October. Tilton served in the Peninsula Campaign before being wounded and captured in 1862. He was released in a prisoner exchange and went straight back to active duty, becoming a Lieutenant Colonel and fighting in the Battle of Antietam. He was promoted to Colonel shortly thereafter and led the 22nd during the Battle of Fredericksburg. He went on to command troops in the Battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Cold Harbor, and the Siege of Petersburg. He was mustered out of service in 1864. President Lincoln and the U. S. Senate later awarded him the honorary rank of Brevet Brigadier General. His carved marble monument features a military sword and medal in relief across the front.
14 | Sweet Auburn
Walter Raymond York( 1894 – 1921)
Lot 6228, Althaea Path
Walter York grew up in Somerville, MA. In February 1916, he left college and sailed for France to join the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps, attached to the French Army. He served during the horrific fighting at Verdun and Champagne. After the United States declared war in April 1917, he enlisted in the U. S. Naval Aviation Corps and was one of the first to train at Squantum Naval Air Station in Quincy, MA. In June, he returned to France and joined the Lafayette Flying Corps. He flew 122 hours over German lines and was awarded the Croix de Guerre with palm. In December 1918, he was discharged, but contracted pneumonia during his trip home and never fully recovered. He died of tuberculosis in 1921.
Photos by volunteers Helen Abrams, Ginny Brady Mann, and Rosemarie Smurzynski.