Broadway Confederate Memorial - Columbus, Georgia - American Civil War Monuments and Memorials on Waymarking.com

In the spring of 1879 the city of Columbus Georgia was rapidly recovering from the destruction done by Wilson’s Calvary when it raided the city and burned most of its industrial and military assets on Easter Sunday 1865 in the last battle of the Civil War. River commerce was booming and the textile industry associated with gathering the regional cotton crop and processing it for shipment down river and thus to the world was booming along with it. The Columbus Iron Works and other industries associated with supplying the Riverboats were operating at near full capacity. The men of the city had many reasons to let the past insult and antagonism of the war slide into the past. The same was not so for the ladies of the community.

In May 1879 the ladies of the Memorial Society dedicated this large ornate obelisk to the soldiers who died in the just cause of “repelling the unconstitutional invasion” and their gallant but futile attempt to protect the “rights reserved” to the “sovereign states”. It would appear, based on the less than diplomatic wording used by the Memorial Association, the ladies of the City of Columbus had yet to surrender in the spring of 1879.

This monument is located in the median park of the 700 block Broadway. This is very near the center of the city’s Historic District.

The north face the obelisk bears the inscription “Our Confederate Dead” below the seal of the Confederate States of America which consists of the figure of a mounted soldier surrounded by laurels which are, in turn, surrounded by the inscription “The Confederate States Of America – 22 February 1862 – Deo Vindice”

The south face of the obelisk bears the inscription “Their Glory Shall Not Be Forgotten” and “Erected by the Ladies of the Memorial Association, May 1879. To Honor the Confederate Soldiers Who Died to Repel Unconstitutional Invasion, To Protect the Right Reserved to the People and to Perpetuate Forever the Sovereignty of the States.”

The east face of the obelisk bears the inscription “Honor to the Brave” and the following verse:
Honor to The Brave
Gather the sacred dust
Of warriors tried and true
Who bore the flag of our nation’s trust
And fell in the cause tho’ lost still just
And died for me and you

The west face bears the inscriptions “In Memoriam” and “No Truth Is Lost for Which the True Are Weeping or Dead for Which They Died”

Date Installed or Dedicated: 05/01/1879 Name of Government Entity or Private Organization that built the monument: Memorial Association Union, Confederate or Other Monument: Confederate Rating (1-5): Photo or photos will be uploaded.: yes Related Website: Not listed

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