The obelisk was placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1906.
The marker placed by the Georgia Historical Commission in 1956 notes: The Army of Tennessee [Confederate] abandoned Atlanta Sept. 2, 1864, moved to Lovejoy, then to Palmetto, Sept. 19. Most of the Army entrenched 3 miles N. Gen. John B. Hood had headquarters here from Sept. 19 to 29, 1864. Pres. Jefferson Davis visited here Sept. 25th and on the 26th made a speech to the troops 3 miles N. where he was serenaded by the 20th Louisiana Ban. That same night Gen. Howell Cobb and Gov. Isham Harris of Tenn. spoke. On the 27th Pres. Davis left for Montgomery. Gen. Hardee was relieved of his command here, Sept. 28, and on the 29th Gen. Hood moved from here to start the disastrous Tennessee Campaign.
This is an update of a post originally published on 18 July 2017. Vandalism of Confederate monuments first got a lot of notice at that time and I predicted it would continue and perhaps become more widespread. It is happening on a much greater scale today and will likely continue. While I have never advocated nor endorsed vandalism, my original piece was an equivocation of why we should leave the fate of these monuments up to the communities where they exist. I no longer make that equivocation. I felt that the monuments were “safe” because they were a part of history. But as I stated 3 years ago, their fate will continue to be tied to their ongoing connection to White Supremacist, Neo-Nazi, White Nationalist, Ku Klux Klan and related fringe movements. The most prominent groups dedicated to Southern History have failed miserably in distancing themselves from these ignorant buffoons and in that failure they are just as responsible for the destruction of the monuments as any of the current protesters and vandals. As the descendant of poor white farmers who fought for the Confederacy, I have no interest in continuing to elevate wealthy slave-owning officers to the god-like status given them by so-called Southern Partisans. They have never represented my background or life experience, nor the background or life experience of the vast majority of Southerners. Most of the men who died for the Southern cause never owned slaves, but were pawns in an effort to preserve the wealth of men who did. As you’ll read below, even Robert E. Lee took offense to such memorializing.
As a white Southerner, I’ve known racists my entire life, but I’ve known many interested in Southern history who aren’t racists. Unfortunately, the longstanding conflation of “white” history movements with Confederate history has brought us to the present moment. I hear from people all the time that they’re sick of being labeled racists for being Southern, or for defending a Confederate monument; the way I see it, to get around that you need to call these racists out, loudly, and without equivocation. And parading around a few black members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans as a workaround to prove that you’re not what the rest of the world sees isn’t addressing the problem. When the world sees people surrounding a Confederate monument singing Russia is our friend or angrily waving the flags of the Third Reich, so-called Southern Heritage becomes a joke. It’s not just that the media portrays it that way. It’s observable in real time. It’s not caving to political correctness. The continued conflation of these racist fetishes with Confederate history dooms it all.
One might be surprised by the words of Robert E. Lee regarding these monuments, but I tend to agree that removing physical totems does not erase history: As regards the erection of such a monument as is contemplated, my conviction is, that however grateful it would be to the feelings of the South, the attempt … would have the effect of … continuing, if not adding to, the difficulties under which the Southern people labour. (Letter to Thomas L. Rosser, 13 December 1866, via Lee Family Digital Archive). I’m not surprised that the descendants of the most prominent Confederate families have come out against the monuments in recent days, largely, I’m sure, as a result of long-term frustration with the racists who have co-opted them for more nefarious purposes.
I’ve worked at a state historic site devoted to the end of the Confederacy. I serve on the board of a museum based on a Southern town founded by Union veterans. I’ve spent 10 years photographing and documenting White history alongside African-American history. I haven’t done this out of a need to be politically correct yet I have received angry messages from white and black Georgians on a variety of perceived slights, almost always related to racial issues. History is history but if Confederate history is your thing (it’s not mine), keep embracing the radical racism and it will disappear altogether.
This tribute, executed in Italian marble by the McNeel Monument Company, was placed by the veterans, the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Woman’s Club of Thomson to honor the women who kept the home front during the Civil War. Based on a sketch by Lucie Boyd Rivers, it features a young girl wearing homespun gathering the Confederate flag in her arms. It stands on a pedestal flanked by benches on both sides and originally contained a fountain, as well, but that has long been removed. While the names of McDuffie County Civil War veterans are listed on the monument, it’s clear that this was specifically placed to honor women. It’s one of just a few such tributes in Georgia.
This monument’s location away from the courthouse was long a source of controversy. When I photographed it, it was still located on Georgia Highway 80 across from the courthouse. Russ Huffman and Tommy Fountain, with the help of the Lt. James T. Woodard SCV Camp 1399 worked for at least a decade to have it moved to the courthouse lawn. Billy Humphries writes: The Confederate statue has now been moved and prominently placed on courthouse square, thanks to efforts by the SCV (Son’s of Confederate Veterans) who raised funds to move numerous confederate statues and monuments to more secure and more appropriate locations. Regarding Peggy Anderson’s comments…… the disagreement over placement of the monument was reportedly over a disagreement between families who lost sons to the war and a family or families who did not send their son’s but supported the war effort with supplies and money. Both were important, of course, but the argument of a spilled blood sacrifice prevailed over a sacrifice of money to support the war…. So, the courthouse lost a statue at the turn of the century…. 100 years later the statue now has a more respectable resting place. At least this is the local legend. It is fact, not legend, that the names on the statue are all those of white soldiers.
The text of the monument, located on all four sides, is thus: To the Twiggs County Soldiers and Those who Sacrificed All to Establish the Independence of the South 1861 – 1865; Twiggs Volunteers – Capt. Jas. Folsom – 4th Ga. Reg.; Twiggs Guards – Capt. Jas. Barclay – 6th Ga. Reg.; Faulk Invincibles – Capt. E. S. Griffin – 26th Ga. Reg.; Slappey Guards – Capt. U. A. Rice – 48th Ga. Reg.
