I keep trying to take a really decent picture of a Confederate soldier monument. One of these days I'm going to bring a ladder out and get on eye level with one of these bronze soldiers. Until then, I'm going to have to look up at them. I guess that's how we're supposed to approach them.
But right now I want to talk about the inscription on a monument. I've been interested for a while in the shifting language on Confederate monuments. A lot of the late nineteenth monuments are bitter, but like many memories that seems to change over time. For instance, the 1921 monument at Appomattox refers to "principles believed fundamental." Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I think the past-participle part of that -- believed -- tells us something about how the UDC authors of the monument were thinking about things fifty-six years on. And that brings me the Caswell County monument's inscription. It reads:
To the Sons of Caswell County Who Served in the War of 1861-1865 in Answer to the Call of Their Country --- In Whatever Event That May Face Our National Existence, May God Give Us the Will to Do What Is Right, That like Our Forefathers, We May Impress Our Time with the Sincerity and Steadfastness of Our Lives. Erected by the Caswell County Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy 1921
This seems to me remarkably moderate in that it focuses on the sincerity and steadfastness of the soldiers, rather than the rectitude of their cause. Recall, for instance, that the inscription on one side of the Sussex County, Virginia, monument is that "The principles for which they fought live eternally." Somewhat more moderate, but still defiant, is the inscription on the Lunenburg County, Virginia monument that "We fought for the sovereignty of the states." The Lunenburg statue is here.
Also, the county seat of Caswell County is Yanceyville. You may recall that I recently posted about a World War I monunment in Yanceyville that segregates the names of soliders on the basis of race. Here is a picture of that WWI monument in the foreground and the Caswell County Courthouse in the background.
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