American Civil War Monuments

Three Generals

South Loop, Kentucky Avenue, between Union and Confederate Avenues

Vicksburg Military Park

Photos Courtesy of LCWRT Member Paul Fridell

At Vicksburg, there are 4 very large busts on the South Loop of Kentucky Avenue of 4 generals, 2 CSA, 2 USA.  We already covered Ben Hardin Helm.

Left to Right:

Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge

Cost (by Federal Government): $565 bust, $208.91 pedestal

Sculptor: T.A.R. Kitson

Erected: 1913

Plaque reads:

John C. Breckenridge

Major General C S Army

Commanding Division

Johnston’s Army

Brig Gen C S Army Nov 2 1861

Major General Apr 14 1862

Born Lexington Ken Jan 16 1821

Died Lexington Ken May 17 1875"

“In May 1863, Breckinridge was reassigned to Joseph E. Johnston, participating in the Battle of Jackson in an attempt to break the Siege of Vicksburg. Vicksburg fell to Grant's forces on July 4, and Breckinridge was returned to Bragg's command on August 28, 1863."

Brig. Gen. William Vandever,

Cost: $550 for bronze

Sculptor: George T. Brewster

Erected: February 1915, Original Location: Iowa Circle

Plaque reads:

"Brig.General U.S.Vols

Commanding 1st Brigadier/ Herron's Division

Col.9th Iowa Inf. Sept.24 1861

Brig.Gen.U.S.Vols. Nov.29 1862

Bvt. Maj.Gen. Of Vols. June 7 1865"

“In 1861, Vandever was mustered into the Union Army as colonel of the 9th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to brigadier general of Volunteers on November 29, 1862 and sent to command a brigade in the XIII Corps of the Army of the Tennessee. He returned to the Trans-Mississippi Theater to command the 2nd Division in the Army of the Frontier at the Battle of Chalk Bluff. He reverted to brigade command under Francis J. Herron during the siege of Vicksburg.“

Jacob G. Lauman, Brig. Gen.

Cost: $570 for bronze

Sculptor: R. Hinson Perry

Erected: March 1914

Original Location: Wisconsin Avenue

"JACOB G. LAUMAN

Brig. General U.S. Vols.

Commanding 4th Division”

“In 1863, Lauman led the 4th Division of the XVI Corps during the Siege of Vicksburg. He was relieved of duty by the order of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman shortly after the capture of Jackson, Mississippi, on July 16, 1863. He failed to properly execute orders on how to deploy his troops from his immediate superior, Ord, who accused him of wanton disregard for the orders that led to a heavy loss in casualties.”

American Civil War Monuments

Shiloh National Military Park

Shiloh, TN

  

 Photos and text courtesy of LCWRT Member Charlie Moore 

On April 7, 1862, the second day of fighting at Shiloh, J.D.Putnam of the 14^th Wisconsin Volunteers was killed while advancing against a Mississippi Battery.  Thomas Steele, one of the burying party, suggested that Putnam be buried where he fell, in front of an oak tree.  After he was interred his name was carved into the trunk of the tree.  In 1901 the Wisconsin Shiloh Monument Commission visited the battlefield and noticed that only the stump remained, with Putnam’s name on it.  Thomas Steele, who was present, asked for the stump, and the Park Commissioners agreed.  Steele had it shipped to the G.A.R. Memorial Hall in Madison where it remained until it was destroyed in a fire in 1904.  Luckily, Steele had had the stump photographed.  The Wisconsin Monument Commission decided to reproduce it in granite and placed it on the exact spot as the original.  It was so placed on April 7, 1906 and now represents not only Putnam but his entire regiment.  Putnam’s remains were reinterred in the Shiloh National Cemetery in 1866.

American Civil War Monuments 

Ben Hardin Helm, CSA 

South Loop, Kentucky Avenue, between Union and Confederate Avenues

Vicksburg Military Park 

Photo Courtesy of LCWRT Member Paul Fridell

At Vicksburg, there are 4 very large busts on the South Loop of Kentucky Avenue. This one, erected in 1914, at a cost of $650 for the bronze, honors Ben Hardin Helm, and might be more in place at Chickamauga, where he died Sept. 21, 1863. Here at Vicksburg, he was not actively engaged, but “near the end of the spring of 1863, Breckenridge ordered Helm to deploy the brigade to Vicksburg, Mississippi to participate in General Joseph E. Johnston's unsuccessful attempt to break the siege”. Helm is buried in the Helm Family Cemetery, Elizabethtown, KY. Today, he is mostly remembered as Abraham Lincoln’s brother-in-law. 

Plaque: 

BEN HARDIN HELM

Brig. General C.S. Army

Commanding Ken. Brigade

Breckinridge's Division

Johnston's Army

Cadet U.S. Military Academy 1847

2nd Lt. U.S. Army March 31, 1852

Resigned October 9, 1852

Col. 1st Ken. Cav. Oct. 5, 1861

Brig. Gen. C.S. Army Mar. 14, 1862

Mortally wd. in battle Sept. 20, 1863