Boston Common Soldiers and Sailors Monument is dedicated.

Artist: Martin Milmore. It is located on Flagstaff Hill. The first Civil War monument in Boston, it serves as a model for subsequent statues erected around the country. The cornerstone was laid on September 18, 1871. The monument includes four bas-reliefs at its base, in which notable Bostonians (including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Edgar Allan Poe) are portrayed in fictional scenes from the war. It also includes a 70-foot tall pedestal topped by the figure of the Genius of America. The memorial topples over due either to vandalism or deterioration on May 8, 2004, but is subsequently repaired and restored.