Documenting the American South

Monument Name

Bertie County Confederate Monument, Windsor

Type

Common Soldier Statue

Subjects

Civil War, 1861-1865

Creator

Monumental Bronze Company, Bridgeport, CT, Builder

City

Windsor

County

Bertie

Description

The monument depicts a confederate soldier at parade rest, with his gun resting on the ground. The statue rests on a column of smooth granite sitting atop a four-tier base of rough cut granite. Two crossed cannon are shown in relief on the column's cap beneath the statue. The monument’s inscription was most likely penned by local veterans.

The base and statue stand approximately nineteen-feet high in total, the statue itself is made of “White Bronze” (Zinc). The Bertie monument is one of only four public space monuments erected before 1904. Prior to then most had been placed in cemeteries.

Inscription

Monument, front: WE RESPONDED TO / OUR COUNTRY'S / CALL / "WE FOUGHT AN / HONEST FIGHT. / WE KEPT THE / SOUTHRON'S FAITH. / WE FELL AT THE / POST OF DUTY. / WE DIED FOR THE / LAND WE LOVED." / ERECTED BY / THE CONFEDERATE / VETERANS / ASSOCIATION / OF BERTIE. 1896.

Base, front: OUR CONFEDERATE / DEAD / 1861-1865

Custodian

Confederate Veterans Association of Bertie

Dedication Date

August 13, 1896

Decade

1890s

Geographic Coordinates

35.997150 , -76.945570

Supporting Sources

"Bertie County Confederate Monument," The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.com, (accessed November 19, 2023)

Confederate Veteran, 4 (1896), p. 386.

Butler, Douglas J. North Carolina Civil War Monuments, An Illustrated History, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2013), 157, 164, 222, 239, 242

Emerson, B. A. C. (Mrs.). Historic Southern Monuments: Representative Memorials of the Heroic Dead of the Southern Confederacy, (New York: The Neale Publishing Company, 1911), (accessed January 29, 2013)

U.S. Department of the Interior. National Park Service. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form "Windsor Historic District" ([1991]), (accessed January 28, 2020)

United Daughters of the Confederacy, North Carolina Division. Minutes of the Tenth Annual Convention of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, North Carolina Division, Held at Durham, N.C., October 10th, 11th and 12th 1906, (Newton, NC: Enterprise Job Print., 1907), 37, (accessed August 29, 2012)

“Confederate Monument Unveiled, Windsor Ledger (Windsor, NC), August 13, 1896

“The Monument,” Windsor Ledger (Windsor, NC), August 13, 1896

“Unveiling Program,” Windsor Ledger (Windsor, NC), August 13, 1896

“Unveiling,” The Patron And Gleaner (Lasker, NC), August 20, 1896

Public Site

Yes

Materials & Techniques

White Bronze and Fairfield Granite. “White Bronze” was a proprietary treatment of cast zinc produced by the Monumental Bronze Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut and its seven subsidiaries. Cast pieces were soldered internally to avoid visible seams. The outer surface was then sandblasted to create a carved-stone appearance.

Sponsors

Bertie County Confederate Veteran Association

Monument Cost

$2,000

Monument Dedication and Unveiling

The monument was unveiled on August 13, 1896, with a reported four thousand people attending. The featured address was given by former Confederate General and then United States Senator William Bate of Tennessee. Several generations of his forebears, including his father, had lived in Bertie County, and a public reception was given on the evening of the dedication to honor him. Two Bertie County survivors of Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg were also on the speaker's stand. After the unveiling and prior to the featured address Democratic candidate for Lt. Gov. Thomas W. Mason gave the monument presentation speech. Also featured was an original poem by John E. Tyler entitled “Bertie at Gettysburg.”

Location

The monument is located on the east side of Dundee Street at the intersection with South King Street, Windsor, NC. It is located across the street from the courthouse.

Landscape

The monument sits in a small brick plaza on the edge of the park at the intersection. There is a bench behind the monument, and the plaza is framed by shady trees.