Norfolk Confederate Monument Logo
 Norfolk Confederate Monument about1906

1895 Monument of Peace.


A MONUMENT OF PEACE.

There could be no better evidence of a reunited country than that offered in the erection and dedication of a monument to the Confederate dead in Chicago a few days since, in which ex-Union as well as ex-Confederate soldiers took almost an equal part, in spite of a few who continue to cry down the South a number of Grand Army Posts were present and participated in the ceremonies and there were also present many distinguished Federal officers.

The occasion, in fact, was a reunion of men who thirty years ago faced each other in deadly combat, but recognizing the true soldier they met to do honor to the dear heroes to whose memory the shaft had been erected - one to pay a fitting tribute to his departed comrades; the other to pay a tribute to the valor and to bear evidence by their presence that they had no animosity against the men at one time their foes. The incident showed that the war is ended and that there is no longer any feeling between the men who wore the blue and those who wore the gray.

The Confederate monument at Chicago was erected, to a large extent, by men who fought the Confederacy. It was erected in a city whose people were opposed to the South during the war, and Grand Army men marched side by side with Confederate veterans to the place where the ceremonies took place. Besides, the Illinois National Guard participated in the dedication, thus giving evidence that the young soldiers of the rising generation, like the Grand Army men, no not believe in keeping alive the bitter memories of the war. Truly the Confederate monument of Chicago is a monument of peace.


Historic Documents related to the monument

1895 Monument of Peace, 1895 Kirmess, 1897 Raising Money, Report of the Committee on Monument, Board of Trustees, Monument Approval, Communication from City Treasurer, Signing Monument Contract, 1899 Ground Braking, 1899 Plans For Laying The Corner Stone, 1899 Laying The Corner Stone, 1902 History of the Monument, 1907 Standard Bearer, 1907 Memorial Day

Source of Information

Norfolk Virginian, Volume 50, Number 12, 4 June 1895.