Friday, June 14, 2013

Confederate History Discovered During a Visit to the Mississippi Delta

My family just returned from a vacation which included travel thru the Mississippi Delta and a stay in Greenville MS out west on Hwy 82.  Leland Mississippi just east of Greenville is the birthplace of Kermit the Frog and the kids enjoyed seeing that little museum.  Greenwood Mississippi is just east of Leland on Hwy 82 which meanders all the way back to Prattville AL, home of the Dragoons.  Greenwood is home of the Confederate Memorial Building, one of only two such designated buildings in the United States.  Greenville on the western edge of the state itself sits on the Mississippi River and the town was destroyed during the War when Confederates in Greenville fired upon Union gunboats in the river which were making their way downstream for the siege of Vicksburg.  The Confederate action was only successful in provoking the Yankees to stop long enough to raze the small town.  But the town today, known for it's numerous small roadside tamale shacks has some nice Confederate heritage monuments and sites.  The Washington County Courthouse and Arboretum has a beautiful monument with a Confederate soldier atop and quotes from President Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee inscribed on sides of the base.  The monument was erected by the local UDC chapter, "To commemorate the valor and patriotism of the Confederate soldiers of Washington County" as inscribed on the south face of the monument.   The East face contains this quote from Charles B. Galloway which parallels the SCV Charge, "It is due the truth of history that the fundamental principles which our fathers contended should be often reiterated in order that the purpose which inspired them may be correctly estimated and the purity of their motives be abundantly vindicated."  The North face contains the quote from Lee, "The sublimest word in the English language is duty."  On the west face, President Davis is quoted, "For those who encountered the perils of war in defense of the sacred cause of states rights and constitutional government."  The Greenville Cemetery is a beautiful old wooded cemetery near downtown and the courthouse and it has many Confederate veteran's graves and one section where many are buried which also contains an obelisk monument again erected by the local Taylor Rucks Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and on sides of the monuments are listed all those Confederate Veterans interred there from Mississippi and from other states.  The Greenville History Museum was not visited while we were there but it supposedly houses some artifacts from and provides information regarding this period of the Confederacy and the War Between the States.
Washington County Courthouse and the Confederate Monument in Greenville MS
Courthouse Monument Inscriptions NE Corner

Courthouse Monument Inscriptions SW Corner

Greenville Confederate Cemetery with Obelisk Monument

Greenville Cemetery Monument Inscriptions

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