North Carolina Civil War Monuments

Monuments honoring leaders and victorious armies have been raised throughout history. Following the American Civil War, however, this tradition expanded, and by the early twentieth century, the Confederate dead and surviving veterans, although defeated in battle, ranked among the world’s most commemorated troops. This memorialization, described in North Carolina Civil War Monuments, evolved through a challenging and contentious process accomplished over decades. Prompted by the need to rebury wartime dead, memorialization, led by women, first expressed regional grief and mourning then expanded into a vital aspect of Southern memory. In North Carolina, 109 Civil War monuments—101 honoring Confederate troops and eight commemorating Union forces—were raised prior to the Civil War centennial. Photographs showcase each memorial while committee records, legal documents, and contemporaneous accounts are used to detail the difficult process through which these monuments were erected. Their design, location, and funding reflect not only the period’s sculptural and cultural milieu but also reveal one state’s evolving grief and the forging of public memory.

Douglas J. Butler is an independent scholar, practicing physician, and avid photographer. He lives in Crumpler, North Carolina.

Douglas J. Butler
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 272
Bibliographic Info: 137 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2013
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6856-0
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0337-7
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments ix
Preface 1
Introduction 3

Section I : Early Commemoration, 1865–1895
1. Gathering the Fallen 7
2. Memory 21
3. New Ground 33
4. A Capital Celebration 42
Section II : Evolving Commemoration, 1896–1918
5. “To the Confederate Soldier” 55
6. Monumental Day 66
7. The Daughters 80
8. Financing 99
9. Dedication Day 112
10. Soldier Statues 127
11. Monument Companies 141
12. Poetry and Prose 153
13. Women of the Confederacy 166
14. Across the Chasm 175
Section III : Expanding Commemoration, 1919–1961
15. New Expressions 188
16. Hard Times 200
17. The Centennial Nears 213

Appendix A. North Carolina Confederate Monuments 221
Appendix B. North Carolina Union Monuments 229
Chapter Notes 231
Bibliography 251
Index 253

• Winner, Willie Parker Peace History Book Award—North Carolina Society of Historians
• “This is a well-researched and well-written book…an excellent source”—Civil War News
• “Degree and depth of the research is very impressive…a most useful book”—Blue & Gray Magazine
• “A very thorough account of the various monuments built to honor the fallen of the war”—Salisbury Post
• “Presents photographs and descriptions of 109 Civil War monuments, memorials, and commemorations erected in North Carolina between 1865 and 1961”—Reference & Research Book News