| Colonel Thomas Cass | |
| Italic Title: | no |
| Artist: | Richard E. Brooks |
| Subject: | Thomas Cass |
| Metric Unit: | cm |
| Imperial Unit: | in |
| City: | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Coordinates: | 42.3526°N -71.0688°W |
| Mapframe: | yes |
| Mapframe-Zoom: | 13 |
A statue of Thomas Cass by Richard E. Brooks,[1] called Colonel Thomas Cass,[2] is installed in Boston's Public Garden, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.[3]
After a previous statue at the same site was found to be ugly, Brooks was commissioned to design a statue of Cass by the Boston Arts Commission in 1897.[4] The bronze sculpture was cast in 1899 and unveiled on September 22 of the same year.[5] [6] It replaced a previous granite memorial of Cass.[2] The statue earned Brooks a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1900.[7] [8]
The statue depicts Cass in a Civil War uniform with his arms folded across his chest. It measures approximately 8 ft. x 2 ft. 4 in. x 2 ft. 4 in., and rests on a granite base measuring approximately 6 ft. 6 in. x 3 ft. 8 in. x 3 ft. 8 in.[2] The granite came from Red Beach, Maine. The artwork was surveyed as part of the Smithsonian Institution's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in 1993.[2]
The monument has been recognized as an historic feature of the Public Garden, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, by the National Park Service.[9] [10]
In 2009, Peters F. Stevens of the Boston Irish Reporter wrote:
A statue of Colonel Cass was erected in the Boston Public Garden, but surviving veterans of his regiment railed that the memorial was both stiff and a poor likeness of the fallen hero. The Society of the Ninth Regiment raised funds to tear down the statue and commissioned noted sculptor Richard E. Brooks to craft a bronze statue of Cass. On September 22, 1899, the striking bronze, which captured the visage and commanding presence of Colonel Thomas Cass and garnered high praise and a prestigious award for Brooks, was unveiled. It stands there today, testimony to a hero – a Boston Irish and American hero.[11]