The Confederate Private Monument is a bronze sculpture of a private of the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

in Centennial Park,

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, United States. Designed by George Julian Zolnay, it was commissioned by the

Frank Cheatham Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Cheatham (October 20, 1820 – September 4, 1886) was a Tennessee planter, California gold miner, and a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He served in the Army of Tennessee, inflicting ...

Bivouac of the

United Confederate Veterans The United Confederate Veterans (UCV, or simply Confederate Veterans) was an American Civil War veterans' organization headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was organized on June 10, 1889, by ex-soldiers and sailors of the Confederate Sta ...

in 1903, laid with Masonic honors in 1907, and dedicated in 1909. It was vandalized in June 2019.

Description

The monument consists of a statue of a Confederate private in a

uniform A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, se ...

with a rifle. According to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, the private is

Sam Davis Sam Davis (October 6, 1842 – November 27, 1863) was a Confederate soldier executed by Union forces in Pulaski, Tennessee, during the American Civil War. He is popularly known as the ''Boy Hero of the Confederacy'', although he was 21 when he ...

(although newspaper articles published at the time do not mention him). The Smithsonian adds, "The butt of the rifle rests on the rocky stone ledge on which Davis is seated. He faces forward with his proper left hand resting between his knees. Davis is seated on a rough-cut stone atop a tapering base." The monument includes a plaque with the names of 540 members of the Frank Cheatham Bivouac.

History

Theodore Cooley, a member of the

Bivouac of the

, suggested commissioning a monument in 1902. By 1903, he assembled a group of Confederate veterans to work on the project, and they hired sculptor George Julian Zolnay, who had designed many other Confederate sculptures, to do it. When Cooley died, Major B. M. Hord became the chairman of the committee. The monument cost $4,000 to build. Zolnay donated $500; the Frank Cheatham Bivouac of the United Confederate Veterans raised $1000, the United Daughters of the Confederacy raised more than $1,000, and the rest was covered by smaller donors. By 1907, the cornerstone was "laid with Masonic honors by the Grand Lodge of the State." The monument also includes a plaque with the names of 540 members of the Frank Cheatham Bivouac. The monument was dedicated in Centennial Park on June 19, 1909. Henry Watterson gave a speech that celebrated Tennessee for having the courage to leave the Union and stated "Greece had its Marathon; let Shiloh, Murfreesboro and Chichamauga tell the story of Tennessee." Zolnay gave a speech in front of the crowd highlighting that his wife was a Southerner, and Judge S. F. Wilson gave another speech about the fighting spirit of the private soldier in the CSA. It was "unveiled in the presence of an immense crowd of people," to the sound of "

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...

". In a speech, Henry Watterson combined a veneration of Southern glory with a consecration of the dead to the reconciliation of the living. Although he emphasized divine will, he differed from other United Confederate Veteran speakers in that he depicted God sacrificing the men of both sections to a new Union. Through veneration of things memorable, magnificent, and courageous, he aroused feelings of pride, patriotism, and loyalty to the new Union. In appealing to things memorable, he transferred elements of the

Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

to Southern history to heighten the sense of divine destiny in reconciliation. He recounted the magnificence and courage of Tennesseans to highlight their conduct in war and their conciliatory spirit in peace.Henry Watterson, A Study of Selected Speeches on Reconciliation in the Post-Bellum Period
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Vandalism

The statue was vandalized with red paint on June 17, 2019. The vandal(s) also painted "THEY WERE RACISTS" on the plaque with the names of the 540 Confederate veterans. At the time when the monument was installed, Tennessee had legal racial segregation in public schools, parks and other facilities. African Americans were forbidden to use the public pool at Centennial Park. Twenty-first century opponents of maintaining Confederate monuments have noted the

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

of such post-Reconstruction history as part of the context of the installation of the monuments and say they should be removed from public places.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Confederate Private Monument 1909 establishments in Tennessee 1909 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Nashville, Tennessee Confederate States of America monuments and memorials in Tennessee Monuments and memorials in Tennessee Outdoor sculptures in Tennessee Sculptures of men in Tennessee Statues in Tennessee Vandalized works of art in Tennessee