County

Cumberland

Zip Code

04101

Type

Stone marker

Additional Type

Plaque

Date Erected

6-27-1937

Date Dedicated

6-27-1937

Inscriptions

ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF

MAJ. GEN. CLARENCE R. EDWARDS

BELOVED COMMANDER OF THE

BORN DIED JANUARY 1 [YD Symbol] FEBRUARY 14 1860 26 TH. DIV. 1931

ERECTED AND DEDICATED ON

THIS SITE EDWARDS PARK

PORTLAND ME. JUNE 27, 1937

Materials

Granite marker with bronze plaque.

Sponsor

Portland, Maine, Yankee Division Club

Keywords

Edwards Memorial, WWI, Portland, Maine

Monument Description

Located in the small, triangular patch of grass known as Edwards Park, located across from the Portland Post Office on Park Avenue, this rectangular granite monument, with a rounded top edge, is set inside a raised patch of grass, framed by granite pavers. The monument features a bronze plaque inscribed to Major General Clarence R. Edwards, the Commander of the Yankee Division (26th) of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during WWI. The plaque features a symbol with the letter Y inside of a letter D, signifying the Yankee Division, formed in August of 1917. In combat longer than any other American Division, the infamous Yankee Division--comprised of soldiers from the six New England states--was the first US National Guard unit (and the first complete American Division) to arrive in France.

A description of the memorial is given in the 1940 WPA Portland City Guide, and the entry notes that at one time (at least through 1940), the emblem of the Yankee Division was "worked into the ornamental flower circle on the High Street angle of the park” (pp. 241-242).

Comments

Edwards was a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from West Point in 1883. He served in the Spanish American War (in the Philippines). He was promoted to Major General in 1917, and charged with overseeing the Department of the Northeast upon the outbreak of the war. In August of 1917, Edwards, was charged with organizing the 26th Division, which landed in France in September. Edwards was removed of his command in October of 1918 by General Pershing. He retired from the Army in 1922, and died in 1931. Edwards is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, with his wife and daughter.

Camp Edwards, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is also named after the General.

To learn more about the 26th, or "Yankee," Division, which Maj. Gen. Edwards commanded during WWI, see: https://worldwar1letters.wordpress.com/the-adventure-unfolds/watchful-waiting-1917/26th-yankee-division/

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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

For More Information:

To learn more about the 26th, or "Yankee," Division, which Maj. Gen. Edwards commanded during WWI, see: https://worldwar1letters.wordpress.com/the-adventure-unfolds/watchful-waiting-1917/26th-yankee-division/ See also: Michael E. Shay, Revered Commander, Maligned General: The Life of Clarence Ransom Edwards, 1859-1931 (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2011). Edwards' papers are at the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Photographer

Libby Bischof

Date Taken

Summer 7-10-2015

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Keywords

Edwards Memorial, WWI, Portland, Maine

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