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

Prophetic words of wisdom from General Patick Cleburne



Mural of General Patrick Cleburne,
Wright Plaza, Cleburne, Texas

Quote from  Patrick Cleburne; a Major General of the Confederate States of America during the War for Southern Independence:

"Every man should endeavor to understand the meaning of subjugation before it is too late...

"It means the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by  Northern schoolteachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the war; will be impressed by the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, and our maimed veterans as fit objects for derision...

"It is said slavery is all we are fighting for, and if we give it up we give up all. Even if this were true, which we deny, slavery is not all that our enemies are fighting for. It is merely the pretense to establish sectional superiority and a more centralized form of government, and to deprive us of our rights and liberties."

Pickett's Mill: A Battle Sherman wanted to Forget

Four weeks into his Atlanta Campaign, during the War to Prevent Southern Independence, General William T. Sherman ordered an attack on Confederate defenders in the environs of Dallas, Georgia, northwest if Atlanta,  Yet, although Sherman instigated what became known as the Battle of Pickett's Mill, he  omitted any mention of it in his memoirs.  Perhaps Sherman wanted to forget Pickett's Mill - a humiliating defeat and a setback in Abraham Lincoln's War of Northern Aggression.

Sherman's omission in recording this battle is just another example of how northern generals and state historians have worked to slant and shape history in ways that cast the Union in the most favorable light possible - historical accuracy be damned.

On May 24, 1864, the Federal invaders were already stinging, having been stopped in their advance on Atlanta two days earlier by the Battle of New Hope Church.  Now, under Sherman's orders, some 14,000 Federal troops, led by General Oliver Howard, marched on Pickett's Mill.  There, a smaller contingency of 10,000 Confederate troops were assembled under the command of General Patrick Cleburne. 

The Yankee assault at Pickett's Mill began at 5 p.m. and continued into the night.  When the sun rose the next morning the outnumbered, but not outfought, Confederates were still in possession of the field.  The Yankee invaders had lost 1,600 men compared to the Confederate loss of 500.

This Confederate victory resulted in a one-week delay for Sherman and his invading hoard as they killed, burned, raped and plundered their way across Georgia.

Today Pickett's Mill Battlefield State Historic Site is one of the best preserved battlefields of the War Between the States.  On a recent visit there I contemplated the battle as I walked on the same roads used by both Federal and Confederate troops, saw earthworks constructed by these men, and explored the peaceful ravine through which Little Pumpkinvine Creek flows, where hundreds of men died, all to satisfy Sherman's insanity and Abraham Lincoln's lust for money and power.

The Ravine and Little Pumpkinvine Creek at Pickett's Mill

Story and photos by J. Stephen Conn

A New Statue for Confederate General Patrick Cleburne

Irish-born Confederate Major General Patrick Cleburne is not the best known Confederate General and until now there has not been any statue erected in his honor. However, the good people of Ringold, Georgia are getting ready to correct that oversight and give the brave general his well-deserved due. A new 700 pound bronze statue, with a price tag of $120,000, is to be unveiled at a small roadside park in Ringold during a festival slated for next fall.

Cleburne saw action in Ringold, which is not far from the famous battlefields of Chattanooga and Chickamauga, on the Tennessee/Georgia border. He also fought in many other battles including Kennesaw Mountain and the Battle of Atlanta. He was killed in the Battle of Franklin, Tenn., in November 1864 at age 36.

Cleburne's name has been given to several Southern places including Cleburne County, Ala., on the Georgia state line west of Atlanta. However, it has only been in recent years that Cleburne himself has become better known, even among War Between the States buffs. In the past decade or so new biographies have been written about him, and a comic book illustrator in Florida just published a graphic novel about Cleburne. A prominent Civil War historian and Cleburne biographer, Craig Symonds said, "Nowadays he is beginning to earn his due. I think the erection of this statue is reflective of that."

Many people like myself, with Confederate ancestors, are familiar with General Cleburne's famous words dated January, 1864. In a letter he proposed mass emancipation and enlistment of Black soldiers in the Confederate army. The best known lines of the letter contained a somber prediction about our Southern heritage. Cleburne spoke prophetically:

"Every man should endeavor to understand the meaning of subjugation before it is too late . . . It means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the war; will be impressed by all the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, our maimed veterans as fit objects for derision . . . The conqueror's policy is to divide the conquered into factions and stir up animosity among them . .."

You may learn more about the new statue by following this link to a recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/12/28/Cleburne_statue_ringgold.html

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Article by J. Stephen Conn - Historic Photo from the Public Domain