Whitehall Confederate Monument, Seven Springs
The memorial is formed by two slabs of granite about four feet tall placed back to back on a
concrete base and surrounded by a mound of granite rocks. The slab forming the front was
once a floor support from the Richmond Theater in Richmond, Virginia that was built in 1812
and in use during the Civil War. This piece of stone was donated by the Edmund Ruffin Fire
Eater Camp of the Virginia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans. In addition to the
inscriptions it features the Seal of the Confederate States of America. The back slab is much
thinner than the front (floor) slab and was placed to provide a smooth surface for the rear inscription.
It features a colored depiction of the second Confederate national flag. This design placed the
Confederate battle flag (also known as the “Southern Cross”) as the canton on a white field.
Images:
Back slab view (photo by Brock Townsend)
Front: WHITEHALL N.C. CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL MONUMENT / YEAR OF OUR LORD 2008 /
WAR FOR SOUTHERN INDEPENDENCE 1861 – 1865 / “THE CAUSE OF THE SOUTH WAS THE
CAUSE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT; THE CAUSE OF / GOVERNMENT REGULATED
BY LAW AND THE CAUSE OF HONESTY AND FIDELITY IN PUBLIC / SERVANTS NO NOBLER CAUSE
DID MAN EVER FIGHT FOR!” / REP. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN GRADY, DUPLIN COUNTY N.C. / 1899
THIS HONORED AND HISTORICAL PIECE OF GRANITE ONCE WAS A FLOOR SUPPORT FROM / THE
BASEMENT DRESSING ROOM OF THE MARSHALL THEATRE (1818) LATER NAMED / THE
RICHMOND THEATRE (1862), AT 7 TH AND BROAD STREET, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. OUR
SOUTHERN BROTHERS IN RICHMOND GAVE TO THEIR SOUTHERN BROTHERS IN / NORTH
CAROLINA THIS SACRED MARKER EMBODYING A CERTAIN GREATNESS FROM THOSE / LIVES
THAT TOUCHED IT IN THE PAST. THIS GRANITE STONE HEARD ALL THE VOICES / THAT
REMAINED STEADFAST AND FOUGHT FOR OUR BELOVED SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. / A.C
GRIFFITH, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA / SOUTHERN CONFEDERATE COMPATRIOTS THAT STOOD ON
THIS GRANITE, / CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENT JEFFERSON DAVIS / THE
ENTIRE CONFEDERATE STATES CABINET / GEN. ROBERT E. LEE AND HIS ARMY / GEN. J.E.B.
STUART / EDGAR ALLEN POE / JOHN MARSHALL / WILLIAM WIRT COINED THE PHRASE “GIVE
ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH” / ACTOR JOHN WILKES BOOTH / JENNY LIND 1850 / P.T.
BARNUM 1850
Rear: BATTLE OF WHITEHALL, N.C. / DEC. 15-16, 1862 / [Beneath depiction of Confederate flag]
STAINLESS BANNER / CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS / REDDICK ARNOLD, CO. B, 3 RD BN.,
N.C. LT. ARTY, KILLED / SGT. E. B. BRISTAL, CO. B, 11 TH N.C., KILLED / JOHN F. DELLINGER, CO. I,
11 TH N.C., KILLED / WALTER DUCKWORTH, CO. B, 11 TH N.C., KILLED / ELIAS DULIN, CO. E, 4 TH N.C.
CAV., KILLED / JAMES GAULT, CO. I, 11 TH N.C., KILLED / L.T. GILL, CO. D, 31 ST N.C., KILLED / CORP.
WM. H. LILES, CO. B, 31 ST N.C., KILLED / 2 ND LT. WM. W. M. MEANS, CO. E, 11 TH N.C., KILLED /
NOAH ROUNDTREE, CO. F, 11 TH N.C., KILLED / BENJ. F. SMITH, CO. E, 4 TH N.C. CAV., KILLED /
JOHN W. TARKINGTON, CO. B, 3 RD BN, N.C. LT. ARTY., KILLED / BENJ. H. WALKER, CO. E, 11 TH N.C.,
KILLED / C.SS. IRONCLAD NEUSE / B.P.LOYAL, LT. COMMANDER AND NINETY-ONE SAILORS
“I SAY WE CANNOT KNOW YOUR SUFFERING, BUT THIS WE DO KNOW; / WE LOVE AND HONOR
YOU, VETERANS, AND ARE JUSTLY PROUD OF THE HERITAGE YOU / HAVE GIVEN US. JUST SO
LONG AS WARM BLOOD FLOWS IN THE VEINS OF MAN, SO LONG / WILL THE WORDS
'CONFEDERATE VETERAN' CAUSE THAT BLOOD TO TINGLE WITH GLORIOUS / PRIDE, AND, IF
THERE BE ONE AMONG US, BORN IN OUR GLORIOUS SOUTHLAND WHO / IS NOT SO THRILLED,
EVERY DROP OF STAGNANT BLOOD PROCLAIMS HIM / BASTARD TO THE SOUTH – A COWARD
TO ALL THE WORLD. / JOSEPH POWELL PIPPEN, ESQ. AUGUST 10 TH , 1911
Sons of Confederate Veterans
December 13, 2008
35.240050 , -77.836390
View in Geobrowse
"SCV Dedicates Memorial to Battle of Whitehall, CSS Neuse Sailors," Across Our Confederation, https://myscv.wordpress.com/, (accessed April 25, 2016) Link
Rand, Chuck. "Battle of Whitehall Memorial," December 15, 2008, http://sonsofconfederateveterans.blogspot.com, (accessed May 1, 2016) Link
“Confederate Stars And Bars,” Civil War, http://www.usflag.org, (accessed April 27, 2016) Link
“Whitehall Memorial Park,” May 12, 2010, "Legacies", http://fragile-legacies-of-dixie.blogspot.com, (accessed April 25, 2016) Link
No
Granite
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Land, labor and materials: $12,000
150 people gathered in Dan and Wendy Boyette’s front yard for the dedication ceremony with
many of those in attendance wearing Civil War era civilian and military clothing. “What we want
to tell is not just about the Confederate soldier, but about the people involved, the lives that
were touched by this terrible war, whether it was the blacks, the whites, the Indians, the Jews,
the Germans, the Irish, the Scots,” Boyette said. “It’s not just one section of people, it’s not just
one race of people, it’s everybody.” Several African Americans were in attendance to include
Boyette’s neighbors and historian Earl L. Ijames with the NC Museum of History in Raleigh who
spoke about the history of slavery in the state.
In addition to the dedication news reports suggested the event was also geared toward telling
the “truth” about the Confederacy and how the war was fought to maintain southern
independence. “All you’ve got to do is read the documents that were out there and see we’ve
been lied to in the history books,” said F. Lee Hart III of SCV Camp 1702.
The national Sons of Confederate Veterans organization travels around the country to dedicate Confederate monuments erected on private property due to the controversy that would surround any effort to erect pro-Confederate monuments on public property. The piece of land on which this monument is located was donated to the national organization by Dan and Wendy Boyette.
The monument is located at the Confederate Memorial Park in front of a private residence on Budd Fields Road north of the Neuse River near Seven Springs in Wayne County. The mailing address for Budd Fields Road is in LaGrange, Lenoir County, NC. As of 2016, there was no signage denoting the park. The monument is visible about 100 yards off the roadway.
The memorial stands in a rural area, facing fields and with a wooded area serving as backdrop.
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