Confederate General Sonewall Jackson Statue at the West Virginia State Capitol

Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson of West Virginia

Stonewall Jackson and the West Virginia State Capitol - Flicker Photo by Angie

While visiting the West Virginia state capitol grounds in Charleston, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that, in 1910, this monument to Confederate General Stonewall Jackson became the first statue to be erected at the capitol.  This was  just 50 years or so after West Virginia seceded from Virginia during the War Between the States, then rejoined the Union.     Jackson was born in Clarksburg, and grew up at Jackson's Mill, Lewis County, in what is today part of West Virginia.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy commissioned Moses Ezekiel, then working in Italy, to design the bronze statue to honor soldiers from western Virginia who fought for the Confederacy. The statue was first erected on the old Capitol gounds, located downtown, then moved to the new Capitol in 1921. An identical copy of Ezekiel's "Jackson" stands on the parade grounds of Ezekiel's alma mater, the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia.

Cleburne, Texas honors Confederate General Patrick R. Cleburne

This gleaming white Confederate monument stands in front of the Johnson County Courthouse in the center of downtown Cleburne, Texas.  The town was named in honor of Confederate General Patrick Cleburne, under whom many local men served during the War for Southern Independence.  General Cleburne is also memorialized on a large mural at nearby Wright Plaza, pictured below.

Historical Mural at Wright Plaza, Cleburne, Texas, feathers the town's namesake, Confederate General Patrick Cleburne.

An inscription on the mural displays a green Irish shamrock.  It reads:  

Born in Cork County, Ireland

Lived in Helena, Arkansas

CLEBURNE commanded regiment from Texas, Ark., at Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Kenesaw Mtn. Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Franklin,

Gen. Cleburne was killed at the battle of Franklin, Tn. on November, 30, 1864, along with 5 Confederate generals including General Hiram Granbury.  Confederate veterans and townsmen voted in 1867 to name the town after Gen. Pat, "The Stonewall Jackson of the West."

Hardee Flags / Granbury's Texas Brigade, Cleburne's Division 

Another monument to General Cleburne, standing on the courthouse square, was placed by the state of Texas during the centennial of the War Between the States.  It reads:

CITY NAMED FOR CONFEDERATE

GENERAL

PATRICK R CLEBURNE

1828 - 1864

BORN NEAR CORK, IRELAND, CAME TO THE U.S. 1849.  DRUG CLERK IN OHIO, BECAME LAWYER IN ARKANSAS.  RECRUITED 1ST ARKANSAS REGT. FOR CONFEDERACY, ELECTED COLONEL, PROMOTED BRIGADIER GENERAL MAR. 1862. BECAME MAJOR GENERAL DEC. 1862.  RAPIDLY EARNED REPUTATION AS A SUPERB COMBAT OFFICER ON NUMEROUS FIELDS WITH ARMY OF TENNESSEE. EIGHT TEXAS REGIMENTS OF GRANBURY'S BRIGADE WERE UNDER CLEBURNE AND IN 1864 ATLANTA CAMPAIGN HE SAID THE PILES OF THE (UNION) DEAD WERE SILENT BUT SUFFICIENT EULOGY UPON GRANBURY AND HIS NOBLE TEXANS."  ON NOV. 30, 1864 CLEBURNE, A SAVAGE FIGHTER, MET DEATH SIX PACES FROM THE FEDERAL LINES IN BATTLE FRANKLIN, TENN.  BECAME KNOWN AS "STONEWALL JACKSON OF THE WEST."

ERECTED BY THE STATE OF TEXAS, 1964  

Photos by J. Stephen Conn

John Hunt Morgan Monument in Lexington, Kentucky

This impressive memorial to Confederate General John Hunt Morgan astride his horse stands proudly in front of the old Fayette County Courthouse, now the Lexington History Museum, Lexington, Kentucky.  The front inscription on the granite pedestal of the memorial reads simply "Genl. John H. Morgan and His Men."   On the side of the pedestal are the words, "Erected by the Kentucky Division United Daughters of the Confederacy."    A Commonwealth of Kentucky historical marker beside the monument reads:

JOHN HUNT MORGAN (1825-1864)   

 Known as the Thunderbolt of the Confederacy, Morgan was born in Huntsville, Alabama; in 1831 moved to Lexington. After attending Transylvania, he fought in the Mexican War. In Lexington, he prospered as owner of hemp factory and woolen mill. Morgan organized Lexington Rifles Infantry, 1857; later led them to aid Confederacy. Reverse, John Hunt Morgan 1825-1864 Leading cavalry raids behind the enemy lines, General J. H. Morgan disrupted Union supplies and communications. For southerners, he was the ideal romantic hero. Captured in Indiana-Ohio raid, he escaped and was killed in Greeneville, Tennessee, September 4, 1864. Buried in Lexington Cemetery. Morgan became a courageous symbol of the Lost Cause.

John Hunt Morgan Historical Marker - Side 1

John Hunt Morgan Historical Marker - Side 2

John Hunt Morgan Memorial, Lexington, Kentucky

Photos by J. Stephen Conn

Dickson County Confederate Monument, Charlotte, Tennessee

In recent years there has been a movement afoot to remove Confederate monuments and other remembrances of our proud Southern heritage from the landscape.  In such a "politically correct" age it is heartening to see that in some communities monuments to the C.S.A. are still being erected instead of being torn down.  Here is one such example of a Confederate monument unveiled in March, 2001, in Charlotte, Tennessee, 42 miles west of Nashville.

Dickson County Courthouse and Confederate Monumernt

                                  

[Confederate States of America]
Deo Vindice

TO ALL WHO SERVED

IN MEMORY OF THE
CONFEDERATE SOLDIER
OF DICKSON COUNTY, TN

11th Tennessee Infantry, Co. C, E, H, K
49th Tennessee Infantry, Co. B, D
50th Tennessee Infantry, Co. A
10th Tennessee cavalry
24th Tennessee Sharpshooters
Baxter's Co. TN. Light Artillery
Baxter's Batt. TN. Light Artillery
Ross' Cavalry Brigade, Co. A
1861 --- 1865


Erected in March 2001

Dickson County Confederate Monument, Rear View: 
 "Offered in their memory  by W. H. McCauley Camp 260 Sons of Confederate Veterans"

Colnfederate Monument in Watkinsville, Georgia

Oconee County Confederate Monument, Watkinsville, Georgia 

This simple Confederate Monument, in front of the Oconee County Courthouse, Watkinsville, Georgia, was erected by the Roberta Harris Wells Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy of Watkinsville.  Being in a small county, the monument is smaller and less ornate than some, yet the inscription is eloquent.  It reads:

COMMEMORATING THE SELF-SACRIFICE
OF THE CONFEDERATE SOLDIER
WHOSE VALOR IS ENGRAVED UPON
THE HEART OF THE SOUTH,
ENDURING AS TIME, EXCITING
AND COMPELLING THE ADMIRATION
OF ALL NATIONS AND ALL PEOPLES

Young County Confederate Monument, Graham, Texas

The Unique Confederate Monument pictured here graces the front of the Young County Courthouse in the center of "America's largest downtown square" in Graham, Texas.  The inscription reads: 

Erected September 1918
by the Fitzhugh Lee Chapter, U.D.C. of Graham and citizens
to the Confederate soldiers of  Young County.

Howard County, Maryland, Confederate Monument

This Confederate Memorial, prominently placed  in front of the Howard County Courthouse, Ellicott City, Maryland, was dedicated on September 23, 1948.  It honors the brave men of Howard County who defended their sovereign state of Maryland from Abraham Lincoln's invading Yankee army during his illegal  War to Prevent Southern Independence, 1861-1865. 


The embellished bronze relief plaque, on a gray granite tablet, makes for an outstanding example of a tablet style monument.  Three edges of the plaque are embellished with a border of twining foliage. The plaque is decorated with a low relief composition of overlapping elements: laurel wreath, drum, bugle, saber, rifle with bayonet, and flag.


Below the design the inscription reads:  

BY THE

 HOWARD COUNTY CONFEDERATE MONUMENT ASSOCIATION

 IN HONOR OF THE BRAVE MEN

 WHO FOUGHT SO COURAGEOUSLY IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY 

Beneath the inscription is a listing of 92 names of the Confederate soldiers of Howard County.  A miniature Confederate Battle Flag, which was apparently placed in front of the monument not long before I captured this image,  shows that those soldiers and their honorable cause have not been forgotten.

Confederate Flag Display in Millen, Georgia

Confederate Monument and Flag Display, Jenkins County Courthouse, Millen, Georgia

On a recent visit to Millen, Georgia, I was very pleased to see this display of Confederate flags in front of the Jenkins County Courthouse.  The flags, with history and descriptions posted at the base of each, were placed in commemoration of Confederate History Month, which is offically observed each April throughout the state of Georgia.

Millen lies directly in the line of Union General William T. Sherman's infamous March to the Sea during the War Between the States.  The town held a special significance to the murderous general as he is said to have rated is as one of the top three sites for destruction in Georgia. From his headquarters on the Myers Farm just south of downtown Millen, Sherman gave orders to burn the town and railroad station and to destroy the railroad tracks to Savannah.

The monument, dedicated June 3rd, 1909, bears inscriptions which include these eloquent words:

Front:  

IN HONOR OF OUR
CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS,
WHOM POWER COULD
NOT CORRUPT
WHOM DEATH COULD
NOT TERRIFY,
WHOM DEFEAT COULD
NOT DISHONOR.

THOSE WHO SERVED.
THE
CONFEDERACY.

Rear:

 THESE WERE MEN WHO
BY THE SIMPLE MANHOOD
OF THEIR LIVES.
BY THEIR STRICT ADHERENCE
TO THE PRINCIPLES OF RIGHTS,
BY THEIR SUBLIME COURAGE.
AND UNSPEAKABLE SACRIFICE,
EVEN TO THE HEROISM OF DEATH,
HAVE PRESERVED FOR US,
THROUGH THE GLOOM OF DEFEAT,
A PRICELESS HERITAGE OF HONOR.
FOR EACH SINGLE WRECK
IN THE WAR PATH OF MIGHT,
SHALL YET BE A ROCK IN
THE TEMPLE OF RIGHT.

Texas County named for Confederate Colonel C. M. Winkler

Monument to Confederate Colonel C.M. Winkler

In 1994, upon visiting my 50th state in the U.S.A., I decided to set out on a new quest to visit each of the 3,142 counties or county equivalents in the country.  At this point I am more than 97% of the way to my goal.  One of the milestones along the way was visiting every county Texas, all 254 of them, which I completed in March of 2009.  One of the interesting discoveries in Texas was to learn that scores of Texas towns and counties, especially in the western part of the state, are named for Confederate heroes.

Lt. Col. C. M. Winkler, C.S.A.

In the 1960s, during the centennial of the War Between the States, the state of Texas did a splendid job of identifying and marking much of it's proud Confederate heritage.  The state legislature authorized numerous monuments and historical markers, such as the one pictured here, to help preserve the memory of the gallant men in gray who defended the Southland against Abraham Lincoln's invading Yankee armies.


I have already posted photos of a few of those markers, and will be adding more as time permits.  The marker above stands in front of the Winkler County Courthouse in Kermit, Texas, just south of the New Mexico state line.  It is a reminder that the county was named for Confederate Colonel C. M. Winkler.  Clinton McKamy Winkler, Confederate soldier, lawyer, state legislator, and judge of the Court of Appeals, was born in Burke County, North Carolina, on October 19, 1821.  His family moved to Indiana, where he grew up, and at the age of 19 he moved to Texas.  Winkler was a Court of Appeals judge at the time of his death, May 13, 1882, in Austin, Texas


The inscription on the monument reads:

COUNTY NAMED FOR TEXAS CONFEDERATE

COLONEL C. M. WINKLER

1821-1882     

Native North Carolina. Start of Civil War, organized and took company 150 men to join Confederate army in Virginia. Unit made part 4th Texas Infantry of famed Hood's Brigade. Rose to command regiment as Lt. colonel. Fought with famous unit in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee. Distinguished himself second Manassas, wounded at Gettysburg. Surrendered with General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox.

A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy

(1963)

Winkler County Courthouse, Kermit, Texas

1896 Description of the Windsor, North Carolina, Confederate Monument

The very interesting history of the Windsor, North Carolina Confederate Monument, reprinted below, was an 1896 local newspaper account,  later published in the book: 

Historic Southern Monuments;

Representative Memorials of the Heroic Dead of the Southern Confederacy

By Bettie Alder Calhoun Emerson

Published by General Books LLC, Jan 4, 1910

WINDSOR, N. C.



A Confederate monument was unveiled, August 13, in Windsor, North Carolina. Windsor is an old Colonial town near the Atlantic coast, the capital of Bertie County, and its history antedates many years the Revolutionary War. Its public buildings were of brick from England.

It was once a wealthy and aristocratic place, but suffered much in the crucial test of reconstruction and the severe ordeal that followed it. It has recuperated, however, wonderfully, aided by its large and valuable fisheries on the Roanoke River and Albemarle Sound. It is not only historic, but enthusiastically Confederate. It furnished many more soldiers for the Confederate army than it had voters. It was in Bertie County that the celebrated "Captain Byrd's Company" was raised and equipped for the war. That company—of the 1 1th North Carolina Infantry—participated in Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, with thirty-eight men besides its captain (Byrd) and two lieutenants. Thirty-four of them were killed or wounded. Captain Byrd and the four men left for service went into the fight next day, when he and two of the four men were killed.

It was the color company of the regiment, and the flag waved on although its staff was twice shot away. The flag was preserved through and survived the battle. After a time, such of the wounded as were able returned to the company and preserved its organization. Its first-lieutenant, Ed Outlaw, who on that fatal day was under detail by order of General Lee, became its captain, and, with some additions to the company, commanded it in subsequent battles and on until the surrender of Appomattox. Two of the survivors of that charge were on the speaker's stand while General W. B. Bate, of Tennessee, delivered the address at the unveiling of the monument.

Four thousand people were present to witness the ceremonies. A royal welcome was given General Bate, winding up with a public reception at night in his honor. Bertie County was the home of the paternal ancestors of General Bate for several generations, and that added much to the interest of the occasion.

On the front of the monument is this inscription:

WE RESPONDED TO

OUR COUNTRY'S

CALL.

--

WE FOUGHT AN

HONEST FIGHT,

WE KEPT THE

SOUTHRON'S FAITH.

WE FELL AT THE

POST OF DUTY.

WE DIED FOR THE

LAND WE LOVED.

--

ERECTED BY

THE CONFEDERATE

VETERANS

ASSOCIATION

OF BERTIE, 1896

-- 

OUR CONFEDERATE

DEAD

1861-1865

.

Photos by J. Stephen Conn

Eyewitness Account of a Confederate Train Wreck

This monument at Fort Hill Cemetery, Cleveland, Tennessee, memorializes the 17 Confederate soldiers of the 33rd Alabama Volunteers, CSA, who died November 4, 1862, in a train wreck south of Cleveland, en route to Chattanooga, during the War Between the States.  In addition to the 17 dead, another 67 soldiers were injured in the accident.


The monument, listing the names of each of the 17 soldiers, was dedicated November 4, 1989, 127 years after the accident. It stands beside another, much older monument which marks the mass grave of 270 unknown Confederate soldiers.

At the time of the accident, the Alabama 33rd had just fought a battle in Kentucky and were on their way to Chattanooga.  There was no time for burials and the ded were laid in hastily dug graves beside the railroad tracks.  The marker for those graves was long since lost so the exact location is known only to God. 

A fascinating eyewitness account of the train wreck was written by a survivor, Pvt. Marvin L. Wheeler, Company A, 33rd Alabama Infantry Regiment. Pvt. Wheeler enlisted July 1862 at Stevenson, Alabama. He was wounded at Chickamauga. The following is taken from Pvt. Wheeler's memoirs:

"It was then the ladder part of October and first of November. Climatic conditions caused Knoxville to be the smokest place we were at, the smok from our green oak wood fires did not rise but settled and remained in a heavy black bank just above the earth and kept our eyes running water nearly all the time that we were not laying down, it being less dense just next to the earth, and we wer glad to leave there one morning early in November in box cars, a company in a car, with three days cooked rations of flour bread, fresh beef and bacon.

"The engines could pull but ten loaded box cars, say twenty four to thirty six feet long. The 33rd moved in the cars, that time by the left flank, the regimental staff officers or those who were along at the time and part of the baggage, the cooking utensils, axes and medicine chest, occupying the rear or tenth box and this time it fell to the lot of Company D, thought its place was not on the extreem right of the battalion, to occupy a box in the second section or train to our rear, the engine of which train frequently pushed our train up the grains when we stalled, as it did up the grade two or three miles south of Cleveland. And while running fast down grade our trained was wrecked about one or two p.m. the day we left Knoxville, south of Cleveland, killing nine or ten of Company G, one or two of Company E and of Company F and of Company H. Seventeen in all, whom we buried the next morning in a long ditch we dug on the southeast side of the railroad track, and built a worn rail fence around them. We pad put sixty seven crippled ones in box cars and sent them back to the hospital at Cleveland the evening of the wreck, soon after getting them out of it.

"Company B was in the box car next to the tender which was heaping full of split wood and it was supposed that a stick of wood dropped off the tender breaking the front axle under our car. At any rate all the wheels suddenling came out from under our car, causing a dreadful jar and clogged under the second car, which Company G Cooper's Co. from Daleville were in. Many were riding on top of the cars as was usual when moving by rail, and were shuck off like shaking peaches off a tree and badly jolted when they hit the ground.

"The coupling Company B's and Company G's boxes parted and the primitive engine carried Company B's box bouncing along without any wheels under it for two or three hundred yards, and it was the roughest riding we ever experienced. Those of Company B in the front end of the box got out at the doors on either side, some of the alighting on their heads.

"The company guns, accountrements, knapsacks and things soon all worked back to the rear end of the box in bouncing along would strike the rails it would us men and things a foot or more from the floor then when the floor would come in contact with us some would be beneath the pile and get bruised and mashed and were all banged up and badly frightened when the old fashioned engine stopped and after gettin out and find we had no broken bones we hurried back to where the cars were piled up in and on top of each other and assisted while men pried up or chopped to pieces the boxes in getting the crippled or dead out.

"We were delayed about twenty four hours, then we rode in a coal car to Chattanooga where we drew crackers and bacon."

Myra Inman, a local Cleveland woman whose Civil War diary has been published, made this entry on the day of the train wreck:

"Wednesday, 5: cloudy day, rained a little this morning. A gloom was spread over our town this morn. Caused by a sad accident which occurred 16 miles from here. The cable of a car broke, which caused 18 men to lose their lives, while 70 were wounded. There brought to the hospitals."

Fort Hill Cemetery, Cleveland, Tennessee
Left: Monument in memory of the 17 dead from the Alabama 33rd Volunteers train wreck.
Right:  Mass Grave Marker for 270 unknown Confederate dead.

Photos by J. Stephen Conn - click on image to enlarge

Unique Tennessee Confederate Monument with a Personal Testimony

Easy to overlook, but well worth finding, is the unique Confederate monument sandwiched between Grizzell's Jewelry Store and the Paul Holder Realty & Auction Co., on Main Street in downtown McMinnville, Tennessee.  Known as the "Walling Monument," it was erected by a local businessman, Jesse Walling, as a testimony to the two great causes of his life.  Walling was a soldier in the army of the Lord, and also a soldier who defended the Confederate States of America.

The inscription reads:

JESSE WALLING

I enlisted in the Lord's cause when young. Later I enlisted in the Confederate cause and was wounded at Murfreesboro and later discharged by President Davis. The Lord has been good to me 85 years.

Jesse "Pa-Jay" Walling was one of eight children of Smith Joseph Walling , a sheriff and judge of White county. White county is adjacent to Warren County, of which McMinnville is the County Seat. Jesse was a founder of the City Bank and Trust Company of McMinnville (1912) and was mayor three times. He operated the last stage coach line in the town, and was a founder of co-founder of the Annis Cotton MIll, the first electric power plant on the Barren Fork River and the cotton mill at Rock Island. He also owned Park House Hotel which served as the headquarters for the stage line. Mr. Walling is buried in Riverside Cemetery in McMinnville.

Click on the photo to enlarge it.

A Serendipitous Encounter in the Rain

This imposing Confederate monument, shaded by a Live Oak tree, stands beside the Cherokee County Courthouse in Rusk, Texas.


While I was taking the photo above, in a light rain, a man stopped and we chatted for a few minutes about the Confederacy and the War Between the States. He told me the story of his great, great grandfather, a Confederate soldier who was wounded during the War and was laying with several other wounded soldiers in a church which was being used as a hospital.  The Texan told of how a Yankee soldier had entered the church and coldly shot and killed all the wounded Confederates. His great, great, grandfather, the lone survivor who lived to tell the tale, was not shot again only because he pretended to be dead.

 I wish I had gotten name of the man who told me this story.  I'd like to recheck my facts with him and learn any more details he could share with me.  But alas, I was on a road trip, in a bit of a hurry, and it was raining.  If that gentleman should ever happen to see this post I trust he will email me through this blog.

Ever sine the 1860's, thousands of stories such as this one have been passed down - repeated by untold numbers of Southern families. It's no wonder that many folks in the Southern States still refer to their occupiers as "Damned Yankees!"

McDuffie County Confederate Monument, Thomson, Georgia



McDuffie County, Georgia, was not officially created until about nine years after the War Between the States. However, scores of men living in the area that was to become McDuffie County, volunteered for service in the Confederate army and fought to defend their homes and families from the invading Yankee army.

Shortly after Abraham Lincoln ordered the invasion of the Confederate States, a company of soldiers, the Thomson Guards, was organized in Thomson, Georgia, which was then in Columbia County and is now the county seat of McDuffie.  One hundred four men left Thomson May 29, 1861 for Richmond, Virginia.  They were mustered into service June 3rd as Company F of the 10th Regiment of Georgia Volunteers.  During the four year course of the war a total of 128 soldiers became part of this company.

Since 1896, the monument pictured above has stood on the east sidewalk leading to the McDuffie County Courthouse in Thomson, about 32 miles west of Augusta.  It honors the brave men from the area who stood, fought and fell while upholding the high and noble ideals of the Confederate States of America - self government, states rights and a limited centralized American empire.  

The monument is an obelisk which features on its front two crossed sabres.  Below this is inscribed "Women’s Tribute April 26, 1896." An inscription on the side of the monument reads:

THEY SLEEP THE SLEEP OF

OUR NOBLE SLAIN

DEFEATED, YET WITHOUT

A STAIN. PROUDLY AND PEACEFULLY

Sam Davis - Boy Hero of the Confederacy

This statue of Tennessee native Sam Davis, stands proudly in the shadow of the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville.  Davis is memorialized for his heroic sacrifice his life in defense of his beloved Southland during the War Between the States - an act which earned him the title, Boy Hero of the Confederacy.  A plaque at the base of the statue reads:

SAM DAVIS OF TENNESSEE

Born October 6, 1842, near Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Educated at the Western Military Institute at Nashville

Early in the Civil War he joined the Confederate Army

Company 1, First Tennessee Regiment.

In 1863 he was assigned to Shaw's Scouts, Cheatham's Division.

In November, 1863, when on duty,

Uniformed in Confederate butternut and grey,

Davis was captured in his native state, then within the Federal lines.

Important papers, descriptive of the Federal fortifications and forces,

Were found upon his person.

These papers had been given Davis by Captain Shaw

Who had also been captured and was confined to the same prison.

Davis was tried by court martial,

condemned to death and executed at Pulaski, November 27.

The Federal Commander offered Davis his life, if he would tell

who gave him the papers. To this offer, under the very shadow of

the gallows, Davis made his immortal reply:

"I would die a thousand deaths

Before I would betray a friend."

---

"Greater love hath no man than this,

That a man lay down his life for his friends."

Another plaque at the base of the statue offers this poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox:

SAM DAVIS

When the Lord calls up earth's heroes,
To stand before His face,
O, many a name, unknown to fame
Shall ring from that high place;
Then out of a grave in the Southland
At the just God's call and beck,
Shall one man rise with fearless eyes
With a rope about his neck;
O Southland: bring your laurels,
And add your wreath, O North!
Let glory claim the hero's name
And tell the world his worth.

Sixteen Unknown Confederate Dead in Pikeville, Tennessee

In the remote, beautiful Sequatchie Valley of East Tennessee, about 50 miles north of Chattanooga, are the graves of sixteen unknown Confederate dead. The headstones, pictured here, can be found in the Pikeville City Cemetery, Bledsoe County. Since I live near Pikeville, I have had opportunity to ask several local people about these 16 Confederate soldiers. It is very rare to find a local person who even knows that the tombstones exist, and I have never yet found a person who seems to know much about them. It is so unfortunate that so many American people are oblivious to their their own history.

In the book "Bledsoe County, Tennessee: A History," written by Pikeville native Elizabeth Parham Robnett in 1993, I learned this about the monument:

"According to tradition, General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his troops were in Pikeville for a brief rest while passing through the valley. During their brief stay sixteen of his men die and were buried in the Pikeville City Cemetery. Their graves may been seen there today; marked, "16 Unknown Confederate Soldiers. The site of their camp was on the hill near the Lafayette Academy. Tradition also tells that General Forrest was a guest in the home of Judge Frazier, whose home was near the academy."

Similar grave markers can be found in obscure, old cemeteries throughout the South - sober reminders of a past which we forget at our own peril.

Photo by J. Stephen Conn

Confederate Monument Honors Faithful Slaves

A Confederate Monument with numerous interesting inscriptions has stood proudly beside the Tyrrell County Courthouse in Columbia, North Carolina for more than a century.  One of the top panels of the Monument honors "Faithful Slaves."   This is a reminder that there was not a single major slave uprising during the War for Southern Independence, although countless Southern homes, plantations and farms were left in the care of black servants while the men were away at war.  This was in spite of Abraham Lincoln's declared best effort to cause an insurrection in which the blacks would murder innocent white women, children, and old men while the able bodied men were gone.   Tens of thousands of black men, both slave and free, were also fighting for the Confederacy - defending their homes against the aggressive Yankee invaders.

I've been told or read at least a thousand times that the North fought to free the slaves and the South fought to defend slavery.  That's odd, because I've visited and photographed hundreds of monuments to the War Between the States and have NEVER seen a Confederate Monument that says the South fought to protect slavery, nor have I seen a Union Monument that says the North fought to free the slaves.  And that's after visiting 3,055 of the 3,142 counties in The U.S.A. 

Apparently, the myth that the War of Northern Aggression was all about freeing the slaves is  just that - a myth.  The historical records make it clear that the slavery issue was interjected into the war long after the Yankees invaded the South, motivated by greed and a lust for power. 

 Anyway, more about this interesting monument.  It stands in dedication to the "memory of the patriotic sons of Tyrrell County who fell in the service of the Confederate States." The monument depicts a Confederate soldier, with inscriptions on all four faces of the pedestal.

The front face features a picture of Gen. Robert E. Lee and reads:

THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY THE TYRRELL MONUMENT ASSOCIATION, A. D. 1902

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. MARK MAJETTE, ABNER ALEXANDER, THOMAS L. JONES, J. S. CAHOON, and C. E. TATEM.

FINANCE COMMITTEE. MRS. B. V. McCLEES, MRS. J. C. MEEKINS Sr., MISS LINA B. ALEXANDER.

PRESIDENT. LT. COL. WILLIAM F. BEASLEY.

IN MEMORY OF THE PATRIOTIC SONS OF TYRRELL COUNTY WHO FELL IN THE SERVICE OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES.

GENERAL JAMES JOHNSTON PETTIGREW.
HIS NORTH CAROLINIANS WENT FARTHEST AT
GETTYSBURG, PA.

Tyrrell County Confederate Monument, Columbia, North Carolina

The second face reads:

WAR COMMENCED AT FORT SUMTER, S. C., APRIL 12, 1861.


OFFICERS Company A, 32nd N. C. Troops.

J. H. THOMAS, Capt.

L. L. HASSELL and F. F. PATRICK, 1st Lts.

HENRY ARMSTRONG, HOLLOWAY ARMSTRONG, G. W. BATEMAN, J. C. DUGUID, 2nd Lts.

ABNER ALEXANDER, 2nd Lt. 61st N. C. Troops.

JAMES JARVIS, 2nd Lt. 2nd N. C. Cavalry.

J. W. Simmons, 1st Lt. 2nd N. C. Cavalry.

FIELD OFFICERS OF 32nd N. C. TROOPS TAKEN FROM CO. A.

E. C. BRABBLE, (Currituck Co.) Colonel.

D. G. COWAN, (Bertie Co.) Lt. Col.

HENRY G. LEWIS, (Tyrrell Co.) Major.


AS A TRIBUTE TO COMRADS WHO HONORABLY SERVED THE CONFEDERATE CAUSE TO THE END.


WILLIAM M. OWENS, CAPT.
CO. G, 2nd N. C. CAVALRY
BRANDY STATION, VA.


The third face reads:

IN APPRECIATION OF OUR FAITHFUL SLAVES

CONFEDERATES LIVING IN TYRRELL COUNTY WHEN THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED:

ABNER ALEXANDER, B. V. ALEXANDER, NELSON ALEXANDER, W. W. ALEXANDER, W. J. BARNES, THOS. BASNIGHT, D. D. BRICKHOUSE, F. L. BRICKHOUSE, J. S. CAHOON, W. R. CARAWAN, 2nd Lt. CO. H, 33rd N. C. TROOPS, W. G. COLSTON, A. A. COMBES, J. L. COOPER, W. S. DAVENPORT, M. G. ELLIOTT, W. L. GIBSON, THOMAS L. JONES, W. C. KEMP, W. W. KEMP, W. F. KNOWLES, JAMES LITCHFIELD, J. K. NICHOLS, JAMES PHELPS, JOHN RHODES, J. A. SAWYER, S. L. SAWYER, W. J. SAWYER, EDWARD SEXTON, W. E. SHALLINGTON, B. S. SPENCER, A. H. TATEM, C. E. TATEM.

TO THE NOBLE WOMEN OF TYRRELL COUNTY, WHOSE DEVOTION TO OUR CAUSE AND SACRIFICES IN ITS BEHALF, AND FOR THEIR LOVED ONES IN THE FIELD, ENTITLE THEM TO RANK WITH THE HEROINES OF ALL AGES.

NELSON McCLEES, 1st LT.
EDENTON BELL BATTERY
FORT ANDERSON, N. C.


The fourth face reads:

WAR ENDED AT APPOMATTOX, C. H., VA., APRIL 9, 1865.

WE LOVINGLY DEDICATE THIS TABLET TO THE MEMORY OF MARY ALEXANDER BEASLEY, WHO WAS BORN IN TYRRELL COUNTY, A. D. 1811, AND DIED IN TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, IN 1892. SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF HENRY AND CLARKEY ALEXANDER, AND DEVOTED THE FOUR YEARS OF OUR WAR TO NURSING OUR SOLDIERS, WHO LOVED TO CALL HER "MOTHER BEASLEY." SHE WAS THE MOTHER OF Lt. Colonel W. F. BEASLEY, 71st N. C. TROOPS, WHO WAS THE YOUNGEST OFFICER OF HIS RANK IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY.

THE CONFEDERATE SOLDIER WON AND IS ENTITLED TO THE ADMIRATION OF ALL WHO LOVE HONOR, AND LIBERTY.

WILLIAM MORRIS,

SAILOR ON MERRIMAC

HAMPTON ROADS, VA.

Fighting with General Joseph E. Johnston to the Bitter End

This imposing monument to Confederate General Joseph E. Johnson Stands on one of the most prominent intersections in downtown Dalton, Georgia. The inscription reads:

JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON

1807 - 1891

Brigadier General U.S.A.

General C.S.A.

Given command of the Confederate

Forces in Dalton in

1863. He directed the 79 days

Campaign to Atlanta, one of the

Most memorable in the annals of war.

Erected by Bryan M. Thomas

Chapter United Daughters of

Confederacy, Dalton, Georgia, 1912

*****

I am very proud to say that one of my great uncles, John Thomas Conn, fought with General Johnston during that Atlanta Campaign.  Uncle John Thomas was a native of Big Shanty, Georgia, later named Kennesaw.  He was literally fighting to defended his family and home against invading Yankee aggressors.  John Thomas, along with three of his brothers, volunteered for service in the Confederate army shortly after the outbreak of the War Between the States. 

By the time John Thomas came under the command of General Johnston, all three of his brothers, including my Great, Great Grandfather, William Elisha Conn, had been killed.  John Thomas himself had been captured at Perryville, Kentucky and spent time in two northern POW Camps, one in Indianapolis, Indiana and the other on Pea Patch Island in Delaware.  After being exchanged and released from prison, he immediately rejoined the War in the just and noble quest for Southern Independence.

John Thomas was faithful to the Confederate cause to the bitter end.  On April 26, 1865, he was still under General Johnston's command when, near Greensboro, North Carolina,  Johnston was finally forced to surrender the Army of Tennessee and all remaining Confederate forces  still active in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.  It was the largest surrender of the War, totaling 89,270 soldiers.  This was two and a half weeks after General Robert E. Lee had surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox on April 9, 1865.

John Thomas, like the majority of Confederate soldiers, was not a man of wealth or position.  He was a poor dirt farmer and laborer on the railroad who fought for one reason - his home, his family, and his very life was illegally and brutally attacked by an invading foreign army.  Following the War, John Thomas finally limped home, weary and worn in body and mind but still strong in faith.  He found many of his family members dead and the survivors destitute.  His home town of Big Shanty, at the foot of Kennesaw Mountain, had been wantonly burned to the ground by Union General William T. Sherman.  Crops and food stores had been destroyed.  Personal property of any value had been stolen.  Both his local community and the once sovereign state of Georgia were occupied by northern invaders who, for many ears to come, enforced the bitter and punitive policies which they called "Reconstruction."

Honoring the Women of the Confederacy

Monument to the Women of the Confederacy, Camden, Arkansas

Standing prominently in front of the Ouachita County Courthouse, Camden, Arkansas, is this Unusual monument which gives much deserved homage to "Our Confederate Women."  The eloquent inscription on one side reads: 

TO THE CONFEDERATE WOMEN
WHOSE PIOUS MINISTRATION
TO OUR WOUNDED SOLDIERS,
SOOTHED THE LAST HOURS OF THOSE
WHO DIED FAR FROM THE OBJECT
OF THEIR TENDEREST LOVE;
WHOSE DOMESTIC LABORS
CONTRIBUTED MUCH TO SUPPLY
THE WANTS OF OUR DEFENDERS
IN THE FIELD; WHOSE ZEALOUS
FAITH IN OUR CAUSE SHONE
A GUIDING STAR UNDIMMED
BY THE DARKEST CLOUDS OF WAR;
WHOSE FORTITUDE SUSTAINED
THEM UNDER ALL THE PRIVATIONS
TO WHICH THEY WERE SUBJECTED;
AND WHOSE PATRIOTISM
WILL TEACH THEIR CHILDREN TO
EMULATE THE DEEDS OF THEIR SIRES.

On the other side of the monument are these words:  

THEIR INSPIRATION TRANSFORMED

THE GLOOM OF DEFEAT INTO THE

HOPE OF THE FUTURE AND THEIR
MEMORY SHALL NOT BE FORGOTTEN
EVEN IN THE HOURS OF PEACE. 

A third inscription states that the monument was erected by the veterans of the Hugh McCollum Camp 778, aided by the Grinstead Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy and Ouachita County, Camden, Arkansas in 1914.

A similar but much more ornate monument to the Women of the Confederacy stands on the grounds of the Arkansas state capitol in Little Rock. 

 

Cleveland, Tennessee - as Strategic as Richmond to Abraham, Lincoln

“To take and hold the railroad at or east of Cleveland, in East Tennessee, I think  fully as important as the taking and holding of Richmond."
Abraham Lincoln, June 30, 1862, in a letter to Major General Halleck 

Bradley County Confederate Monument, Cleveland, Tennessee

When I was a kid growing up in Cleveland, Tennessee, we lived on Eighth Street, and this monument is in a small island where Eighth crosses Broad and Ocoee - the main streets that lead through downtown.  I passed this spot literally thousands of times.  On each of those occasions I was - and still am - proud of the great Southern heritage which the monument represents.

The inscription on the west side of this monument reads:

ERECTED BY THE,

JEFFERSON DAVIS CHAPTER

UNITED DAUGHTERS

OF THE CONFEDERACY,

1910

The inscription on the east side reads:

"MAN WAS NOT BORN

TO HIMSELF ALONE

BUT TO HIS COUNTRY."

In front of the monument are the words:

TO OUR KNOWN

 AND UNKNOWN

CONFEDERATE DEAD.

I remember pausing to read these words often, even as early as when I was in the first grade, walking past "The Monument" on my way to and from school.

Some historians are quick to point out that a majority of the residents of Cleveland voted against secession and therefore it was a Union town. However, that was before Abraham Lincoln, in his micro-management of the War to Prevent Southern Independence, specifically targeted Cleveland. He placed a high priority upon capturing and controlling the railroad in this strategic town because occupying Cleveland would enable Yankee troops to control supply lines to the looming battle in Chattanooga in November of 1863.

Cleveland was occupied by Lincoln's invading hordes much of the time during the War Between the States and the people of the area suffered severely as a consequence. During so called "Reconstruction" they suffered even more. If a slight majority of the people of Cleveland were pro-Union before the atrocities of the War, they were heavily pro-Confederate afterwards. A remembrance of the war can still be found at Cleveland's First Presbyterian Church which was badly damaged during the War.  Musket balls are still embedded in the steeple. This church, as many in the South, was attended by both black and white worshippers before the Northern invasion.  Segregation was exacerbated for 100 years in the South as a result of the North's extreme punitive abuses during Reconstruction.

During the war, the Union army made its base at the site of Fort Hill Cemetery, overlooking downtown Cleveland, a place I loved exploring as a young man.  A few Union graves can be found in the cemetery, but the most intriguing monument of all is the simple headstone in the cemetery which marks the spot where 270 unknown Confederate soldiers are buried.

Headstone for 270 Unknown Confederate Soldiers - Fort Hill Cemetery, Cleveland, Tennessee

Story and Photos by J. Stephen Conn