Greene County Confederate Monument, Greensboro, Georgia

This monument, standing tall and proud in front of the Green County Court House, Main Street, Greensboro, Georgia, is typical of hundreds of such monuments in parks and on courthouse squares throughout the southern United States.  The sculpture of a Confederate soldier stands erect atop a granite column, grasping the barrel of his rifle.  "Johnny Reb" sports a handlebar moustache, wears a field hat, and carries a canteen and saber on his left hip.

The base of the monument is square, with cannonballs resting on the corners and carved stone cannons placed vertically on the corners. The base rests on two steps which are atop a brick foundation. A square granite curb adorned with cannonballs at each corner surrounds the base of the monument.

The memorial commemorates the Confederate soldiers of Greene County who died while defending their homeland against an invading Union army during the War for Southern Independence.  It was erected by the women of Greene County, composed of the Ladies Memorial Association and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. 

One of the most notable things about this monument, like so many others, is the inscription:

IN HONOR OF THE BRAVE WHO FELL DEFENDING THE RIGHT OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT.

More than a century ago, when the monument was erected, everyone knew why the Confederates fought.  The word "defending" indicates that the South fought a just war because it was entirely defensive.  They were attacked by a Northern advesary bent on empire, with a lust for power and money.  "The right of local self government" is more often expressed as "states rights."  These "brave" chose to lay down their lives rather than become slaves to an out of control federal empire.  In the spirit of `1776, they fought for the exact same principles as did the colonists who seceded from Great Britain during the first American Revolution.

Funny, but in visiting literally hundreds of such Confederate monuments, I've never seen a one which says that the Southrons were fighting to preserve the institution of slavery.  Yet, that is the picture revisionist northern historians have tried to paint in their effort to give some justification to Mr. Lincoln's brutal and illegal invasion of a peaceful people who only wanted to be left alone.

Photos and story by J. Stephen Conn