Bedford, Ohio
My father told me that the Civil War soldier statues of the two sides, as a sign of peace, face away from each other -- those of the Union facing north, and those of the Confederacy facing south. Before us was a fine example -- the stone soldier on
the square in Bedford, Ohio. It shuns main street, the old town hall, and the old train station, where Abraham Lincoln, on his way to D.C., once spoke -- and faces the northern-most side, which seems to hold no special feature. Knowledge of this protocol strengthened my belief that the country was being run by reasonable adults.
Alexandria, Virginia
But, alas, my recent Internet search did not confirm the reason for, or the fact of, this statue-placing protocol.
An article on war memorials in Bedford did say that "[h]istorically, Union statues will face North and most Confederate statues will face South" -- but did not say why. Also, it said that the city of LaGrange, Ohio, actually turned its statue to face south "to signify that Union soldiers would not turn their backs to the enemy." But if those who turned the statue meant to signify a readiness for war, then maybe, by the same token, those who originally placed it meant to signify a wish for peace. Now, I'm fairly sure that many soldier statues, like the east-facing
Seventh Regiment Monument in Central Park, New York City, were placed like other statues -- to face the thoroughfare. Still, when we see the huge Union soldier statue that
stands in the Antietam National Cemetery over thousands of headstones of those that died in the battlefield nearby, doesn't it seem fitting that it face north? Looking south, a Confederate soldier statue stands, unarmed and pensive, in the middle of an
intersection in Alexandria, Virginia. The bronze soldier is not war-ready, but still, with a choice of four roadways, it gazes southward. But in Georgia,
according to Ben Jones, a former Georgia congressman and actor who played Cooter on "The Dukes of Hazzard," "[T]here must be one [statue] in practically every county, in every town square and cemetery -- and it's facing north, by the way." So, again, if those who placed these north-facing Confederate soldier statues meant, as Mr. Jones seems to think, to signify a readiness for war, then maybe, by the same token, those who placed the south-facing ones meant to signify a wish for peace.
Antietam National Cemetery, Sharpsburg, MD
Star City, Arkansas
Through my Internet search, I found that many of the Confederate soldier statues were
placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), a group steeped in, and active in spreading, the
"Lost Cause of the Confederacy" myth. That myth paints a fanciful picture of a gallant South fighting for its genteel ways against the mighty industrial North, and covers over the
fact of a brutal slave-holding society fighting to keep and
spread its economic system where the capitalist owns the laborer. More than simple memorials, those statues glorify the "Lost Cause," and cast the supposed fight for it as just and heroic. For instance, the soldier statue (south-facing)
in Star City, Arkansas, bears the inscription:
OUR FURLED BANNER / WREATHED WITH / GLORY AND THOUGH / CONQUERED, WE ADORE / IT. WEEP FOR THOSE / WHO FELL BEFORE IT. / PARDON THOSE WHO / TRAILED AND TORE IT.
For another instance, the bronze Confederate soldier (south-facing)
in Rockville, Maryland, carries an inscription that was hardly the view of most residents there during the Civil War:
THAT WE THROUGH LIFE / MAY NOT FORGET TO LOVE / THE THIN GRAY LINE
For contrast, let's take the simple, respectful inscription on the Alexandria statue:
ERECTED / TO THE MEMORY OF THE / CONFEDERATE DEAD / OF ALEXANDRIA VA. / BY THEIR / SURVIVING COMRADES
And for another fine example of a simple memorial to the foot soldier, let's again look to Bedford, Ohio. The stone soldier monument there reads:
ERECTED AS A MEMORIAL TO THE MEN / THAT ENLISTED IN THE SERVICE OF THE / U.S. DURING THE WAR OF 1861-1865 / WHOSE NAMES APPEAR ON THIS MONUMENT / TO THE No. of 202.
Bedford, Ohio
Image Credits
Civil War Soldier Statue; Bedford, Ohio; erected July 3, 1886 (TheParagraph.com (CC BY))
Civil War Soldier Statue; Alexandria, Virginia; erected May 4, 1889 (Ser Amantio di Nicolao via Wikimedia (CC BY))
Civil War soldier statue; Antietam National Cemetery soldier statue; Sharpsburg, MD; dedicated Sept. 17, 1880 (U.S. National Park Service)
Confederate Soldier Statue; Star City, Arkansas; erected 1911 (Brandonrush via Wikipedia (CC BY-SA))
Civil War soldier statue inscription; Bedford, Ohio (TheParagraph.com (CC BY))
(From The Paragraph.) [Sources & Notes]
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By Quinn Hungeski, TheParagraph.com, Copyright (CC BY-ND) 2015