American Civil War Monuments

Missouri State Memorial 

Vicksburg National Military Park

Confederate Avenue

Vicksburg, MS

Photo Courtesy of LCWRT Member Paul Fridell

This elegant monument stands 42 feet high to symbolize the 42 Missouri units (27 Union and 15 Confederate) that fought at Vicksburg. It stands between the lines at Stockade Redan where Missouri troops opposed each other. 

The bronze figure, "The Spirit of the Republic," separates bronze reliefs depicting Union and Confederate soldiers. The sculptor was Victor S. Holm of St. Louis. Missouri, a native of Denmark. At a cost of $40,000, it was built and dedicated on October 17, 1917. 

American Civil War Battlefields

Sach’s Covered Bridge

Pumping Station Road

Adams County, PA

Photos and Text courtesy of LCWRT Member Charlie Moore

The 100-foot-long Sachs Covered Bridge was completed in 1854 at a cost of $1,544.  It crosses Marsh Creek approximately 1 mile west of the Peach Orchard on the southern end of the battlefield at Gettysburg.  On the battlefield, Pumping Station Road becomes Millerstown Rd, and then Wheatfield Road. During the Civil War the bridge was used by both the Union and Confederate Armies.  On the morning of July 1, the first day of the battle it was used by two Union brigades of the First Corps, under the command of Brig. Gen. Abner Doubleday.  These two brigades were rushing to aid  Brig. Gen. John Buford and his cavalry troops who were trying to keep the Confederates from taking the high ground south of town.  Late that evening and early the next morning, the Union III Corps under the command of Brig. Gen. Daniel Sickles, used the bridge to arrive at his designated position on Cemetery Ridge on the south end of the battlefield.  After the battle, the majority of the defeated army of Lt. Gen. Robert E. Lee used the bridge during their retreat to the south.  In 1938, it was voted Pennsylvania’s “most historic bridge”. In 1968, it was decided to close the bridge to vehicular traffic while leaving it open to pedestrians.

American Civil War Monuments

Kentucky State Monument

Chickamauga National Military Park, TN

Dedicated May, 1899            

            

Photos and Text courtesy of LCWRT Member Charlie Moore

For Kentucky erecting a monument on the battlefield of Chickamauga was a delicate undertaking because the state had soldiers fighting on both sides during the battle.  Kentucky formed a commission in 1893 to locate battle positions, but the task of erecting a monument was not fulfilled until 1899.  The commission explained that it was the state’s intention to honor both sides trying not to offend either one.  Most of the monuments on the battlefield celebrated the heroic nature of soldiers with a granite soldier ready for battle or carrying a flag.  Kentucky chose to forgo the classic soldier, choosing instead, the image of Bellona, the Roman goddess of war.  They placed her upon a round sphere with four cannons pointing outward, and placed in her hand a sword pointing skyward.  Both the American and the Confederate flags are seen on the monument as are both a Union and Confederate shield.  To further capture the idea of unity the commission included the state shield with the two sides shaking hands.

American Civil War Monuments

Massachusetts Memorial 

Vicksburg National Military Park

Grant Avenue,Vicksburg, MS

 Photo courtesy of LCWRT Member Paul Fridell, text by Holly Jenkins-Evans

This striding bronze infantryman on a 15 ton boulder of Massachusetts granite honors 3 Massachusetts regiments of the 9th Corps of the Army of the Tennessee, the 29th, 35th Mass, 36th Infantry regiments, commanded by Lt. Col. Joseph H. Barnes and positioned on William T. Sherman’s exterior line.

The Massachusetts State Memorial is located on Grant Avenue at Grant Circle. It was the first state memorial erected within Vicksburg National Military Park. Sculpted by Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson, and erected at a cost of $4500, this was the first state memorial at Vicksburg. Dedicated on November 14, 1903. Kitson was the first woman sculptor to be admitted to the National Sculptors Society and studied in Paris. She became a major artist in the early 20th century. Kitson sculpted 73 busts, bas reliefs and monuments at Vicksburg National Military Park.  

The Memorial carries the State Seal of Massachusetts and a plaque in Tribute to the 29th, 35th and 36th Regiments Volunteer infantry as well as the 9th Corps Badge. 

Announcing Our 517th Meeting 

February 11, 2017

General George Henry Thomas: As True as Steel

Presented by Brian Steel Wills

Brian Steel Wills is the Director of the Center for the Study of the Civil War Era and Professor of History at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Ga.  He is the author of numerous works relating to the American Civil War.  His most recent publications are The River was Dyed with Blood: Nathan Bedford Forrest and Fort Pillow (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014), Confederate General William Dorsey Pender: The Hope of Glory (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2013), and George Henry Thomas: As True as Steel (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2012), which was the recipient of the 2013 Richard Barksdale Harwell Award for the best book on a Civil War topic for the year 2012 presented by the Civil War Round Table of Atlanta.

His biography of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, A Battle From the Start: The Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest is currently in reprint as The Confederacy’s Greatest Cavalryman: Nathan Bedford Forrest (University Press of Kansas).  This work was chosen as both a History Book Club selection and a Book of the Month Club selection.

Dr. Wills also authored, The War Hits Home: The Civil War in Southeastern Virginia, released in October, 2001, and No Ordinary College: A History of The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, (2004), both by the University Press of Virginia.  Gone with the Glory: The Civil War in Cinema appeared in 2006 with Rowman and Littlefield.  An updated edition of the James I. “Bud” Robertson, Jr., Civil War Sites in Virginia (Virginia) came out in 2011. 

In 2000, Dr. Wills received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Commonwealth of Virginia, one of eleven recipients from all faculty members at public and private institutions across the state.

 "General George Henry Thomas: As True as Steel"

Although often counted among the Union's top five generals, George Henry Thomas has still not received his due. A Virginian who sided with the North in the Civil War, he was a more complicated commander than traditional views have allowed. Brian Wills presentation will provides a new and more complete look at the life of a man known to history as "The Rock of Chickamauga," to his troops as "Old Pap," and to General William T. Sherman as a soldier who was "as true as steel."

American Civil War Monuments

Battle of Ivy Mountain Monument

U.S. 23

Ivel, Kentucky

Photo and text courtesy of LCWRT Member Charlie Moore

The Battle of Ivy Mountain took place in far eastern Kentucky along the banks of the Big Sandy River on Nov. 8, 1861. The front of the monument reads:

“Here on Nov. 8, 1861, 300 men from companies A&C, 5^th Kentucky Infantry C.S.A and companies B.C, & D, 1^st Battalion Kentucky Mounted Rifles, C.S.A., commanded by Captain Andrew J. May fought a delaying action against four Federal Regiments, the 2^nd Ohio Infantry, the 21^st Ohio Infantry, the 59^th Ohio Infantry, the 16^th Kentucky Infantry and a section of Battery D, 1^st Ohio Light Artillery, commanded by General William Bull Nelson.”  

The reverse side reads: 

“Mustered into service just two weeks earlier and armed only with shotguns and squirrel rifles, May’s Confederate mountaineers were outnumbered eight to one.  Nevertheless, they detained Nelson’s progress long enough to vacate Piketon (Pikeville) and move the main body of Confederate troops to Pound Gap. Union losses were eight killed and twenty-four wounded.  Confederate losses were ten killed and fifteen wounded.”  The monument was dedicated on Nov.10, 2001.