Confederate Monument of Bowling Green

Last updated
Confederate Monument of Bowling Green
Confederate Bowling Green 1.jpg
USA Kentucky location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Bowling Green, Kentucky
MPS Civil War Monuments of Kentucky MPS
NRHP reference No. 97000665 [1]
Added to NRHPJuly 17, 1997

The Confederate Monument of Bowling Green, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is among the sixty-one monuments of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission, all of which became part of the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997. It is within Bowling Green's Fairview Cemetery, on the east side of the old/northern side of the cemetery. [2]

Contents

Description

The monument is made of white limestone that was locally acquired. It cost $1,500 to build, attained by a subscription drive that ran from 1875 until the monument's dedication on May 3, 1876. The obelisk stands thirty feet tall, and is draped by a carved Confederate flag. A bas-relief of a painting popular in the Reconstruction-South, Henry Mosler's "Lost Cause", which typified the devastation of the U.S. Civil War between the Union army and the Confederate army, was placed on the front of the monument. Different reliefs are on other sides of the monument. [3] [4] [5]

The carving that depicts Mosler's painting is signed "SMITH & BROEG," which appears in the plaque's lower right corner (not visible in the gallery image). The stonemason Hugh F. Smith (1825–1897), based in Bowling Green, also had a partial interest in the White Stone Quarry from which the stone was mined. Other grave markers located in Fairview Cemetery and signed by Smith include stones for the Spindler family, John Hess, and C.P. Snell. [6]

Statues of cannons pointed straight up are twenty feet away from each corner of the main monuments, and are eight feet tall. Cannonballs are depicted around the base of the cannon monuments. [4]

A marker describing the monument lies in front of the monument, beside the cemetery road. The marker contains a factual error, saying that Thomas Hines was unable to make it to the dedication due to dying before then. In actuality, Hines would not die for another twenty-two years; his grave is in the same cemetery. [7] Another problem with the marker is that it gives Henry Mosler's name as Thomas Moseler. [5]

Surrounding the monument are the graves of seventy Confederate soldiers, some of them unidentified. [4]

History

It was built thanks to the efforts of George B. Payne. In 1875, he lived in Topeka, Kansas, but had served in the Confederate 4th Kentucky Infantry during the Civil War, spending much time around Bowling Green as he was a courier under General John C. Breckinridge. He desired a monument honoring the Confederate war dead buried at the cemetery. This caused the Warren County Monumental Association to form, with Thomas Hines, who had served as a spy under John Hunt Morgan but was now living in Bowling Green, serving as president. [3] Popular support for the monument came from the barbaric actions of Union general Stephen Burbridge, who sought to murder Confederate soldiers for any reason, resulting in the deaths of twenty-two residents of Warren County in 1864. Prior to that time, the Union saw more support in the county, though the Confederate government of Kentucky briefly resided in Bowling Green 1861–1862. [4]

Over ten thousand people came to the dedication of the monument. The dedication speaker was William Campbell Preston Breckinridge, who served as a colonel for John Hunt Morgan's 9th Kentucky Cavalry, and was instrumental in many veteran organizations for former Confederate soldiers. [3]

One other Civil War monument is at Fairview Cemetery, the William F. Perry Monument. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lexington Cemetery</span> United States historic place in Kentucky

Lexington Cemetery is a private, non-profit 170-acre (69 ha) rural cemetery and arboretum located at 833 W. Main Street, Lexington, Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cave Hill Cemetery</span> Historic cemetery in Jefferson County, Kentucky

Cave Hill Cemetery is a 296-acre (1.20 km2) Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky. Its main entrance is on Baxter Avenue and there is a secondary one on Grinstead Drive. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of burials in Louisville.

The Orphan Brigade was the nickname of the First Kentucky Brigade, a group of military units recruited from Kentucky to fight for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. The brigade was the largest Confederate unit to be recruited from Kentucky during the war. Its original commander was John C. Breckinridge, former United States vice president, and Kentucky's former senator, who was enormously popular with Kentuckians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Hines</span> Confederate Army officer

Thomas Henry Hines was a Confederate cavalryman who was known for his spying activities during the last two years of the American Civil War. A native of Butler County, Kentucky, he initially worked as a grammar instructor, mainly at the Masonic University of La Grange, Kentucky. During the first year of the war, he was a field officer, initiating several raids. He was an assistant to John Hunt Morgan, doing a preparatory raid in advance of Morgan's Raid through the states of Indiana and Ohio, and after being captured with Morgan, organized their escape from the Ohio Penitentiary. He was later involved in espionage and tried to stir up insurrections against the United States government in selected Northern locales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John C. Underwood</span> American politician

John Cox Underwood was an American civil engineer, Confederate veteran, journalist and the 21st Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ladies' Confederate Memorial</span> United States historic place

The Ladies' Confederate Memorial is an American Civil War monument erected in 1874 in Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky MPS. Unlike most Confederate monuments in Kentucky, it represents grief rather than Southern patriotism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William F. Perry Monument</span> United States historic place

The William F. Perry Monument is a historical gravestone located at Fairview Cemetery in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It is an oversized limestone headstone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pewee Valley Confederate Cemetery</span> United States historic site in Oldham County, Kentucky

Pewee Valley Confederate Cemetery is one mile from the old Kentucky Confederate Home site. The National Register of Historic Places lists the cemetery and separately an individual monument within it, the Confederate Memorial in Pewee Valley, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky MPS. It is the only cemetery for Confederate veterans, 313 in total, that is an official state burying ground in Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederate Monument in Georgetown</span> Monument in Georgetown, Kentucky, US

The Confederate Monument in Georgetown is within the Georgetown Cemetery of Georgetown, Kentucky. It is an unpolished granite obelisk that is twenty feet tall, surrounded by the graves of eighteen former Confederate soldiers. The various reliefs upon the obelisk include crossed cannons, crossed muskets, a drum, an azid, and flags. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederate Monument in Cynthiana</span> United States historic place

The Confederate Monument in Cynthiana is located on the outer edge of Cynthiana, Kentucky in Battle Grove Cemetery. It was the first monument to the Confederate States of America dedicated in the State of Kentucky, and long believed to be the first Confederate memorial anywhere. Due to the 32nd Indiana Monument having been moved from its original location, the Cynthiana monument is the oldest Civil War monument still standing at its original location, where the second Battle of Cynthiana started, in the then-new town cemetery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris Cemetery</span>

Paris Cemetery is located along South Main Street in Paris, Kentucky, United States. Incorporated on January 30, 1847, the cemetery is owned and operated by the Paris Cemetery Company. When it first opened, many families re-interred their dead in the new cemetery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederate Monument in Glasgow</span> United States historic place

The Confederate Monument in Glasgow, Kentucky, built in 1905 by the Kentucky Women's Monumental Association and former Confederate soldier John A. Murray, commemorates those who gave their lives in service for the Confederate States of America. It is located on the side of Glasgow's courthouse. The Confederate soldier, made of bronze, is at parade rest, and features details such as a bedroll, canteen, kepi hat, and rifle. It stands on a limestone pedestal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bivouac of the Dead</span> Poem honoring soldiers who died in the Mexican-American War

"Bivouac of the Dead" is a poem written by Theodore O'Hara, a native of Danville, Kentucky, to honor his fellow soldiers from Kentucky who died in the Mexican-American War. The poem's popularity increased after the Civil War, and its verses have been featured on many memorials to fallen Confederate soldiers in the Southern United States, as well as memorials in Arlington National Cemetery, including Arlington's gateway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colored Soldiers Monument in Frankfort</span> United States historic place

The Colored Soldiers Monument in Frankfort, Kentucky's Green Hill Cemetery, at the junction of US 60 and US 421, is the only Kentucky monument honoring black soldiers that participated in the American Civil War, and one of only four in the entire United States. Erected by the Woman's Relief Corps No. 8, an auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic, it was unveiled on July 4, 1924. The only other monument built by GAR in Kentucky is the GAR Monument in Covington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederate Monument in Danville</span> United States historic place

The Confederate Monument in Danville, originally located between Centre College and the First Presbyterian Church at the corner of Main and College Streets in Danville, Kentucky, was a monument dedicated to the Confederate States of America that is on the National Register of Historic Places. The monument was dedicated in 1910 by the surviving veterans of the Confederacy of Boyle County, Kentucky and the Kate Morrison Breckinridge Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). In 2021, it was relocated to a museum in Meade County, Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latham Confederate Monument</span> Historic place in Hopkinsville, Kentucky

The Latham Confederate Monument in Hopkinsville, Kentucky's Riverside Cemetery, is a monument on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lexington, Kentucky, in the American Civil War</span>

Lexington, Kentucky was a city of importance during the American Civil War, with notable residents participating on both sides of the conflict. These included John C. Breckinridge, Confederate generals John Hunt Morgan and Basil W. Duke, and the Todd family, who mostly served the Confederacy although one, Mary Todd Lincoln, was the first lady of the United States, wife of President Abraham Lincoln.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederate Monument in Owensboro, Ky. (former)</span> United States historic place

The Confederate Monument in Owensboro, Ky., was a 16-foot-tall, two-part object — a 7-foot-tall bronze sculpture atop a 9-foot-tall granite pedestal — located at the southwest corner of the Daviess County Courthouse lawn, at the intersection of Third and Frederica Streets, in Owensboro, Kentucky. Nearly 122 years after the monument was dedicated in September 1900, the monument was dismantled in 2022, beginning with the removal of the sculpture in May 2022; the sculpture was placed in storage, pending a decision on what to do with it.

Confederate monuments and memorials in the United States include public displays and symbols of the Confederate States of America (CSA), Confederate leaders, or Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War. Many monuments and memorials have been or will be removed under great controversy. Part of the commemoration of the American Civil War, these symbols include monuments and statues, flags, holidays and other observances, and the names of schools, roads, parks, bridges, buildings, counties, cities, lakes, dams, military bases, and other public structures. In a December 2018 special report, Smithsonian Magazine stated, "over the past ten years, taxpayers have directed at least $40 million to Confederate monuments—statues, homes, parks, museums, libraries, and cemeteries—and to Confederate heritage organizations."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairview Cemetery (Van Buren, Arkansas)</span> Historic cemetery in Arkansas, United States

Fairview Cemetery, also known as the Van Buren Cemetery, is a historic cemetery on the east side of Arkansas Highway 59 in Van Buren, Arkansas. The 10-acre (4.0 ha) cemetery's oldest graves date to 1816, the period of the region's settlement, and include some of Van Buren's first settlers. First established as an informal private burial ground, it was given to the city by John Drennen in 1846.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. Marker by monument, seen in the gallery section
  3. 1 2 3 Marker by monument
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Civil War in Kentucky
  5. 1 2 Morris Museum of Art: Explore Art Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Smith, Deborah A. "Monumental Ambition: A Kentucky Stonecarver's Career," in MARKERS XI (1994): 168-185
  7. Hines' gravestone, a picture of which is available in Hines' article