Westford War Memorial

Westford’s War Memorial is sited on the town common as a tribute to the local residents who served in the nation’s major military conflicts through World War I.

The memorial features a bronze sculpture of a bald eagle perched atop an octagonal base. Each facet of the base bears a bronze plaque. Six of the nation’s major periods of conflict are represented: the Pioneer and Colonial Period, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and the First World War.

The side dedicated to the Revolutionary War, detailed below, recognizes Westford’s contributions.

REVOLUTIONARY WAR
1775 – 1783
AT THE ALARM ON THE
MORNING OF APRIL 19, 1775,
THREE COMPANIES OF
MINUTE MEN MARCHED
FROM WESTFORD UNDER
THE COMMAND OF CAPT.
TIMOTHY UNDERWOOD,
CAPT. JONATHAN MINOT
AND CAPT. OLIVER BATES.
FROM THIS CALL UNTIL
THE SURRENDER OF THE
BRITISH AT YORKTOWN
EIGHT YEARS LATER,
WESTFORD MEN RISKED
ALL FOR CIVIL LIBERTY.
THEY SERVED IN COUNCIL
AND BATTLE, UPON COM-
MITTEES OF SAFETY AND
IN COMMAND OF TROOPS.
HIGHEST RANK WAS HELD
BY LT. COL. JOHN ROBINSON
OF PRESCOTT’S REGIMENT
WHO WITHSTOOD THE FIRST
SHOCK OF BRITISH TROOPS
AT CONCORD BRIDGE, AND
AT BUNKER HILL HE STOOD
IN THE FRONT, “IN SHAPE AND
GESTURE PROUDLY EMINENT.”
TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY
MEN SERVED
THIRTY-FIVE MEN DIED.

On one of its two remaining sides, the monument offers a few words of dedication to all those who served generally:

THE TOWN
OF
WESTFORD
DEDICATES THIS
MEMORIAL TO THE
MEN AND WOMEN
WHO SERVED
THEIR COUNTRY
FROM THE PIONEERS
DOWN THROUGH THE
WORLD WAR.
LOVE OF FREEDOM
LINKED THE GENERATIONS.

The last bronze plaque includes a quote from Daniel Webster’s famous January 26, 1830 Senate speech, offering a reflection on freedom and solidarity:

“LIBERTY AND UNION
NOW AND FOREVER
ONE AND
INSEPARABLE.”