I recently was asked to come up with a list of the five or six most important Confederate monuments in North Carolina. That has been a pretty hard task. The monument in Cross Creek Cemetery in Fayetteville is first on the list, namely because it was the first Confederate monument in the state, erected in 1868. But where to go from there? There are two monuments to women, one on the capital grounds in Raleigh, and the other on the court house grounds in Wadesboro. We have several impressive monuments here in the state: the soldiers monument in Raleigh, the monument in Rocky Mount, and the monument of Fame transporting a dying Confederate soldier to Heaven in Salisbury. But what about the monuments that stand silent sentinel over the mass graves at Wilmington, New Bern, Goldsboro, Bentonville, and Greensboro? Not to mention Silent Sam himself in Chapel Hill.
So, what I have done is to divide the monuments into categories. The categories are cemeteries; courthouses and public parks; battlefields; women, and out-of-state. We will see if this is acceptable.
I was also thinking, if I had to recommend five or six of the most important War-related sites in North Carolina, what would I come up with? That is an equally hard task. Fort Fisher, Bentonville, and the Durham Place make the list for sure. How about the other three spots? The Vance Birthplace? The statehouse grounds in Raleigh? Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh? Fort Branch? The McElroy House? The State History Museum?
Drop me a line and tell me what you would place on your list.
3 comments:
Michael,
As far as state sites go:
- The CSS Neuse at her current resting site in Kinston. Once she's moved down the road next to the reproduction ram, wow, talk about a history lesson!! Kinston and our State will have a gem of a Civil War treasure.
- The ruins of the Fayetteville Arsenal. It represents the Confederate Ordnance Department at its zenith and the handy work of Sherman's 1st Michigan Engineers in its demise.
v/r
Wade Sokolosky
Thank you Wade; you beat me to it! The CSS Neuse I think should definitely go on the list, and I would back the Fayetteville Arsenal as well. Great minds think alike, right?
Andrew Duppstadt @ Civil War Navy
Hi
The most unusual monuments I have seen is in lincolnton county http://www.rrphillips/Confederate_Memorials/web/Lincoln_County_NC/index.htm
The monuments that have bodies under then are the most impressive to me. I can remember standing at Goldsboro, amazed that there were 800 bodies there. Really brings the Civil War into perspective. I travel with my job and have gotten into the habit of taking photos of these monuments, located at http://www.rrphillips.com/Civil%20War%20Records.htm
I visited Fort Anderson over xmas. Was impressed with the earthworks. They also had the flag that flew over the fort.
Richard Phillips
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