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Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
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Source:  Columbus County Confederate Monument, Whiteville. Photo courtesy of Jackie Haddock

  • Monument Name

    Columbus County Confederate Monument, Whiteville

  • Type

    Obelisk

  • Subjects

    Civil War, 1861-1865

  • City

    Whiteville

  • County

    Columbus

  • Description

    The Whiteville memorial to Confederate Dead is in the form of an obelisk standing atop a double base and plinth. Incised on the plinth’s front is the Seal of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Near the top of the obelisk is incised the Great Seal of the Confederate States of America. Below this is the primary inscription underneath which is incised a grouping of flags associated with the Confederacy: three versions of the Confederate national flag, the Confederate battle flag and the “Bonnie Blue” flag. To either side of the monument are grave stone style markers listing the names of the 38 known Confederate dead buried in the section of the cemetery surrounding the monument.

    Images: Far-off view | Right side | Left side | Side view

  • Inscription

    Obelisk inscription, front: WHOM POWER / COULD NOT CORRUPT / WHOM DEATH / COULD NOT TERRIFY / WHOM DEFEAT / COULD NOT DISHONOR

    LEST WE FORGET - / LEST WE FORGET!

    Plinth, left side: THIS MONUMENT IS DEDICATED TO THE NEARLY / 1300 COURAGEOUS SONS OF COLUMBUS COUNTY / WHO IN 1861 IN OBEDIENCE TO THE SUMMONS / OF THEIR STATE FREELY OFFERED THEIR LIVES, / THEIR FORTUNES, AND THEIR SACRED HONOR IN / BEHALF OF THE CAUSE OF CONSTITUTIONAL / LIBERTY AND SELF GOVERNMENT, AND THROUGH / FOUR YEARS OF WAR SO BORE THEMSELVES IN / VICTORY AND DEFEAT BEFORE THE WORLD AND / SET AN EXAMPLE OF EXALTED AND UNSELFISH / PATRIOTISM WHICH WILL EVER BE AN UNFAILING / INSPIRATION TO ALL GENERATIONS.

    Plinth, right side: INTERRED IN THIS HALLOWED GROUND / LIE 38 KNOWN CONFEDERATE VETERANS / AND NUMEROUS UNIDENTIFIED CONFEDERATE / VETERANS, KNOWN BUT TO GOD. / IT IS WITH ETERNAL GRATITUDE / WE DEDICATE THIS MONUMENT / AS AN EVERLASTING TRIBUTE / TO THEIR BRAVERY AND HONOR.

  • Custodian

    Whitefield Memorial Cemetery

  • Dedication Date

    Obelisk: May 14, 2005. Markers listing Confederate Dead: May 13, 2006

  • Decade

    2000s

  • Geographic Coordinates

    34.353100 , -78.705600 View in Geobrowsemap pin

  • Supporting Sources

      “Columbus County Confederate Monument @ Whiteville, N.C.,” North Carolina Sons of Confederate Veterans, (accessed October 18, 2017) Link

      “Whiteville, NC Confederate Monument,” Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com, (accessed October 18, 2017) Link

  • Public Site

    Yes

  • Materials & Techniques

    Granite

  • Sponsors

    Sons of Confederate Veterans, Columbus County Volunteers, NC Camp 794

  • Subject Notes

    At the conclusion of “The War Between the States”, many Confederate soldiers were buried in the Whiteville Memorial Cemetery. The railroad train traveling West from Wilmington would stop in Whiteville and the wounded soldiers who had died would be removed from the train and taken to the cemetery to be buried mostly in unmarked graves. A few graves do have a small stone marked "Unknown CSA 1861 – 1865”. This area of the cemetery is where the Confederate Memorial Obelisk is located.

  • Location

    Whiteville Memorial Cemetery, 1013 James B. White Highway North, Whiteville, NC.

  • Death Space

    Yes

  • Post Dedication Use

    Annual services are held on Confederate Memorial Day each year in May.

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