Rockingham County Confederate Soldier Monument, Reidsville
J. Henry Brown, Richmond, VA, Designer
A granite statue of a uniformed Confederate soldier stands erect while resting the butt of his rifle on the sculpture base. The monument base contains inscriptions on all four sides. A bronze plaque from the 2014 re-dedication is attached below the rear incised inscription. A tall narrow plinth holding the statue is above the base structure. Incised on the front of this block are the letters C.S.A. with crossed Confederate flags beneath.
The granite statue is a replacement for the original 1910 marble statue damaged in a 2011 motor vehicle accident. The base elements are original. The marble statue pieces are in the possession of the Rockingham County History Museum.
Images (by Rusty Long):
1931 postcard with Confederate Monument, Reidsville, N.C. |
Front inscription |
Rear inscription |
Right side inscription |
Left side inscription |
2014 plaque inscription |
1910 and 1956 monuments in Greenview Cemetery |
Angle view of two confederate memorials |
View of the cemetery with memorials
Front: TO THE / CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS / OF / ROCKINGHAM COUNTY
Right: GOD BLESS NORTH CAROLINA / R. E. LEE / LET POSTERITY LEARN THEIR/ TRUE STORY AND FOREVER / PONDER THEIR PATRIOTIC DEVOTION
Left: AT THEIR COUNTRY’S CALL THEY / SPRANG TO HER DEFENSE; / AND ON THE ALTAR OF CIVIL LIBERTY / OFFERED AS A SACRIFICE / THEIR PROPERTY AND THEIR LIVES
Rear: TRUE AS THE STEEL OF THEIR / TIRED BLADES. / HEROES IN HEART AND HAND, / THEY FOUGHT LIKE BRAVE MEN, / LONG AND WELL.
2014 plaque inscription: “TRIUMPHANT” / ROCKINGHAM COUNTY CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS MONUMENT / ORIGINALLY ERECTED IN THE INTERSECTION OF SCALES ST. AND MOREHEAD ST. / IN DOWNTOWN REIDSVILLE, NC AND DEDICATED IN 1910, / THE ORIGINAL STATUE WAS CARVED IN FROM ITALIAN CARRARA MARBLE. / ON MAY 23, 2011 THE STRUCTURE WAS HIT BY A MOTOR VEHICLE AND SEVERELY DAMAGED. / THOSE PIECES WERE DONATED TO THE ROCKINGHAM COUNTY MUSEUM FOR DISPLAY. / THE CHIPPED EDGES AND BROKEN CORNERS OF THIS ORIGINAL GRANITE BASE STRUCTURE / WERE INTENTIONALLY LEFT UN-REPAIRED. THIS NEW STATUE WAS CARVED FROM GA. GRAY GRANITE / AND THE STRUCTURE WAS RELOCATED TO THIS SAFER LOCATION / IN 2013 BY THE NC DIVISION OF THE UNITED DAUGHTER OF THE CONFEDERACY / UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF
STONEWORK / PARKER MONUMENTS PRESIDENT / AILEEN R. EZELL SCULPTOR / CARL W. REGUTTI
June 29, 1910. Re-dedication: July 19, 2014
36.346600 , -79.658070
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“The Historical Address: Hon. H.R. Scott’s Review of County’s History,” Webster’s Weekly (Reidsville, NC), July 1, 1910
"Confederate Monument, Reidsville, NC," Rockingham Community College, Wentworth, NC, (accessed January 21, 2019) Link
"Memorial to Confederate Soldiers, Reidsville, NC," Waymarking.com, (accessed May 12, 2012) Link
"Monument and Post Office, Reidsville, N.C.," in Durwood Barbour Collection of North Carolina Postcards (P077), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill, (accessed December 10, 2012) Link
"Monument and Post Office, Reidsville, N.C.," in Durwood Barbour Collection of North Carolina Postcards (P077), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill, (accessed December 12, 2012) Link
"Rebel Monument Loses its Place in Reidsville" The Reidsville Review (Riedsville, NC), August 11, 2011
Confederate Veteran 18 (1910), 424 Link
Battaglia, Danielle. "Confederate Monument Officially Returns to Duty," News & Record, www.greensboro.com, July 19, 2014 (accessed August 19, 2014) Link
Battaglia, Danielle. "HPAC, SCV File Lawsuit Against Reidsville," newsadvance.com, April 3, 2012 (accessed May 11, 2012) Link
Battaglia, Danielle. "Reidsville Rings in the Holiday Season with Christmas Parade," newsadvance.com, November 23, 2011 (accessed October 5, 2017) Link
Butler, Douglas J. North Carolina Civil War Monuments, An Illustrated History, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2013), 95, 160-161, 225
Dolan, Mary. "Reidsville Confederate Celebration Small, Peaceful," newsadvance.com, July 1, 2010, (accessed October 3, 2017) Link
Ewing, J. Brian. "Century-Old Debate Is Brought to a Head," The News and Record (Greensboro, NC), May 24, 2011 Link
Melrose, Justyn. "Artwork to Replace Confederate Monument Goes up in Reidsville," N&R (Greensboro, NC), greensboro.com, April 5, 2016, (accessed April 6, 2016) 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], 27, 96, 110, (accessed September 3, 2012) Link
Williams, Mrs. Rodney P. "Rockingham County Chapter #0586," in United Daughters of the Confederacy, (Paducah: Turner Publishing Company, 1999), 31, (accessed February 8, 2012) Link
“Confederate Monument,” The Reidsville Review (Reidsville, NC), April 30, 1909
Yes
Original statue: Italian Carrara Marble. 2013 replacement statue: Gray Georgia granite. Shaft and base: Granite from Richmond, VA
United Daughters of the Confederacy, Rockingham County Chapter #586
$2,116
The crowd sang "America" at the 1910 unveiling of the monument. Speeches were given by H. R. Scott, Mayor Fancis Womack, Mr. E.R. Harris of the Scales Boyd Camp of the United Confederate Veterans, and Cyrus B. Watson.
A motor vehicle accident in 2011 toppled the marble statue, breaking it into pieces. The statue was not considered repairable and a new statue of granite was carved in 2013. The new statue and original base were erected at the current location in 2013.
Granite replacement statue: Carl W. Regutti, Sculptor, Cary, NC.
As with many Confederate monuments, the presence of the statue was a point of contention within the community. After a car accident destroyed the monument, some residents celebrated its removal, while others demanded its replacement. Although there was some confusion over who actually owned the monument; Reidsville and the North Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) decided not to return a repaired sculpture to the original location in front of the library. Local groups formed, some opposing a new monument and others calling for a replacement. Organizations for and against replacing the monument participated in the 2011 Reidsville Christmas parade.
In December of 2011, the UDC announced its intent to relocate the monument to Greenview Cemetery. A newly formed Historic Preservation Action Committee and the North Carolina Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) then filed a lawsuit against the city of Reidsville, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The lawsuit claimed the monument to be public property and demanded the return of the statue to its original location. Adding to the confusion, some members of the local branch of the UDC also sided with the SCV in opposition to their state leadership.
The monument has a new home in Greenview Cemetery, at 1004 Montgomery St. in Reidsville, NC where it stands in a row with Confederate graves. It was erected at the cemetery in December 2013 and dedicated on July 19, 2014. A few feet away stands the 1956 Confederate Soldiers Memorial.
The soldier stands guard in the center of Greenview Cemetery.
The monument was located in the center of the traffic circle at the intersection of W. Morehead St. and N. Scales St. in Reidsville (N 36° 21.695 W 079° 39.860). The monument faced South and was surrounded by a circular bed of flowers and a circular brick sidewalk. On May 23, 2011, a car struck the monument after the driver fell asleep. The statue was shattered. Now the monument has a new home in Greenview Cemetery.
In April 2016, Greensboro artist Jim Gallucci started installing his sculpture “Budding Future” in the same place where the Confederate Monument stood until its relocation to the Greenview Cemetery.
Gallucci’s 17-foot-tall, brushed-stainless-steel sculpture will light the roundabout at night. It features graphic panels depicting the city’s history.
The 100th anniversary celebration of the monument's creation was held on July 1, 2010.
On July 19, 2014, more than 75 people attended the 30-minute ceremony at Greenview Cemetery, a new home of the Confederate Soldier Monument.
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