Kentucky Confederates unveil bronze, granite honor

Published 12:13 am Sunday, May 9, 2010

David Harbolt traveled 650 miles to Vicksburg from his Louisville home to see a monument unveiled Saturday morning in honor of his Kentucky ancestors who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War.

“It’s like walking in history, like walking in the footsteps of your great-great-great-grandfather,” said Harbolt, a member of the John Hurt Morgan Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Kentucky Division. “We’ve waited 150 years for this. I have ancestors who fought in Vicksburg, so coming here to see this was something I felt I had to do.”

About 100 Civil War enthusiasts showed up for the formal unveiling of the granite and bronze monument, which was placed in the park in April 2009 along the Confederate Avenue South Loop but not dedicated until Saturday.

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Another 50 re-enactors were on hand to represent the Third Kentucky Infantry — which arrived in Vicksburg in 1862, a year before the siege of the city — while others were part of a Civil War-era brass band and still more fired off muskets and cannons at the hour-long ceremony.

“This ceremony has been a very long time in the making,” said Dr. Tom Hiter, commander of the Kentucky Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, noting the fundraising and organizing efforts for the monument began about 15 years ago.

It was in the mid-1990s that the Kentucky Division of the Sons group learned there had never been a Kentucky Confederate monument erected in the Vicksburg National Military Park, though space had been reserved for one for about 100 years. The group raised about $50,000 to have the monument designed, built and located in the park. With Saturday’s dedication, the VNMP officially has taken ownership of the monument and will be responsible for its maintenance.

“Kentucky’s tribute to her gallant sons who served in Confederate gray in the Vicksburg campaigns of 1862 and 1863 adds to the luster (of the park), and will serve to remind future generations of the selfless devotion to duty that has come to characterize the citizen-soldiers who have served our nation throughout its rich and glorious history,” said Michael Maddell, VNMP superintendent.

A cool, sunny morning provided the ideal setting for the monument’s unveiling, at which those in attendance were led through rousing sing-alongs of “My Old Kentucky Home” and “Dixie” by the brass band. Sons of Confederate Veterans Commander In Chief Charles McMichael said the commemoration of Kentucky’s Confederate soldiers in Vicksburg is long overdue, and added the new monument will add to the expansive history already commemorated in the park.

“I’ve been to many national parks, if not all of them, and this is my favorite,” McMichael said. “It wasn’t just a battle in a field between two armies. Here, you also see the civilian sacrifices that were made. The people stood with the army just as the army stood for the people, and that’s what’s unique about Vicksburg.”

Along with the Kentucky Confederate monument, VNMP Historian Terry Winschel said five others were originally authorized by the park at its creation but have yet to materialize. They include monuments for Vermont soldiers, Kentucky Union soldiers — which, Winschel said, comprised about two-thirds of all Kentuckians who served in the war between the states — Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and Union Gens. William Tecumseh Sherman and James B. McPherson. It is up to individual states or Civil War groups to commission the monuments, and Winschel said none is in the works.

The monument unveiled Saturday features a historical text about Kentucky’s contributions to the Confederate effort in Vicksburg, as well as the names of several commanding officers. As Kentucky was the 13th and final state admitted to the Confederacy — though it never officially seceded from the Union — the monument also features a circle of 12 stars with a hand in the center inserting a 13th into the circle, said Winschel. A bronze Confederate flag is featured draped over the top of the towering edifice.

“It’s a beautiful monument, and we’re thrilled to have it in the park,” said Winschel. “It helps to complete the park.”

William Cherry, also a member of the John Hurt Morgan Camp who traveled to Vicksburg to see the unveiling, said Kentucky Civil War monuments are a rarity across the country.

“I’ve been to nearly every Civil War park in the country and very seldom do I ever see a monument for Kentucky soldiers,” Cherry said. “So this is something that means a lot to me as a Kentuckian.”

With about 1,350 monuments, statues and historical markers in the park and throughout the city, the VNMP boasts more monuments than any other Civil War park in the country. The park was established in 1899 — 17 years before the National Park Service — and encompasses about 1,800 acres, a National Cemetery and the restored USS Cairo Union gunboat.