Rutherford County Confederate Soldiers Monument, Rutherfordton
Rising nearly twenty-five feet, this monument depicts a marble sculpture of the Confederate Common Soldier, mounted atop a tall tapered column. The uniformed soldier stands at parade rest, holding the barrel of his rifle with both hands. The tall shaft is composed of three tiers of granite resting atop a wide base of three steps. The shaft of the column just below the sculpture is of rough cut granite with sharply chiseled corners. This narrow column rests atop a tall pedestal with a smooth face bearing the inscription on the front, a bas-relief image of two crossed Confederate flags on one side, and the bas-relief image of two crossed muskets on the other. This base is capped on all four sides with an ornate top bearing the initials of the Confederate States of America in raised lettering on the front and rear and the dates of the Confederacy on the sides. The inscription is simple, with the word "DEVOTION" expressing the sentiment of the commemoration.
Image: Postcard image of the Rutherford County Courthouse and Confederate Monument
Front: TO THE MEN / AND WOMEN OF / THE CONFEDERACY /
“DEVOTION”
Rear: Erected by the Davis-Dickerson-Mills Chapter / United Daughters of The Confederacy. / October 1910
Front and rear, above inscription: CSA
Sides, below figure: 1861-1865
Rutherford County Courthouse
November 12, 1910
35.368960 , -81.957120
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"Court House & Confederate Monument, Rutherfordton, N.C." Durwood Barbour Collection of North Carolina Postcards (P077), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, (accessed January 7, 2014) Link
"Devotion, (sculpture)," Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museum, SIRIS, sirismm.si.edu, #IAS NC000075, (accessed March 12, 2013) Link
Butler, Douglas J. North Carolina Civil War Monuments, An Illustrated History, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2013), 147
MacKethan, Lulie Biggs. 1947. Chapter Histories : North Carolina Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy : 1897-1947, Raleigh, N.C.: North Carolina Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy, 77-78
Rutherford County Heritage Council, with the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior. "Rutherford County Heritage Development Plan," 2005, 8 (accessed March 13, 2013) Link
Trelease, Allen W. "Stoneman's Raid," NCpedia.org, 2006, (accessed March 12, 2013) Link
United Daughters of the Confederacy, North Carolina Division. Minutes of the Fourteenth Annual Convention of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, North Carolina Division, Held at Rocky Mount N.C., October 12th, 13th, 14th 1910, [Raleigh, NC: Capital Printing Co., 1910], 114, (accessed September 5, 2012) Link
United Daughters of the Confederacy, North Carolina Division. Minutes of the Nineteenth Annual Convention of the United Daughters of the Confederacy North Carolina Division, Held at Charlotte, North Carolina, October 6, 7, 8, 1915 (Wilmington, N.C: Wilmington Stamp and Printing Company), 99, (accessed September 7, 2012) Link
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), 95, (accessed August 30, 2012) Link
“Confederate Monument,” News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), November 15, 1910
“Rutherfordton Confederate Monument,” The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed October 3, 2017) Link
“Unveiling Exercises,” The Sun (Rutherfordton, NC), November 3, 1910
“Unveiling at Rutherfordton,” Marion Progress (Marion, NC), November 24, 1910
Yes
Base and shaft: North Carolina granite. Statue: Italian marble.
United Daughters of the Confederacy, Davis-Dickerson-Mills Chapter
$2,500
The monument was installed in October of 1910 and dedicated on November 12, 1910.
The address of welcome was given by Captain W.T. R. Bell prior to the day’s oration by future Governor Locke Craig. The presentation speech was given by another future Governor Clyde R. Hoey. The acceptance speech was given by Judge M.H. Justice. Music was provided by the Cliffside Renown Band before an audience estimated at 6,000 to 7,000 people.
Rutherford County sent some 1,734 men to fight in the Civil War. The county also experienced some destruction, particularly in Rutherfordton, during the Union campaign known as Stoneman's Raid.
The statue sits facing east in front of the Rutherford County Courthouse on North Main Street between East Second and Third Streets, Rutherfordton, NC.
The statue sits in the semi-circular lawn in front of the courthouse. It is surrounded by mature shade trees.
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