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 .