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It was November, 1907, that the Confederate Monument on
the square in Brandon was unveiled. Four years earlier,
in 1903, the Brandon Chapter of the United Daughters of
the Confederacy was organized. Membership in this chapter
was never very large, but no UDC unit has ever contained
brighter minds or more devoted workers. The truth of this
statement is evidenced by the fact that in such a short
time, a little more than four years, they were able to
accomplish a very worthy goal, the erection of the
Confederate Monument.
Most monuments of Confederate soldiers, it is said, face
the north. Rankin County's monument, however, faces west,
as that was the direction from which the Yankees came into
Brandon.
At the time of the unveiling of the monument, it cost
approximately $3,000. The cornerstone was laid with
appropriate Masonic ceremonies on November 1, 1907, and
on November 29, 1907, the monument was unveiled.
Ex-governor Robert Lowry, general commanding the Mississippi
veterans, was prevented from delivering the principle address,
as his own son, Patrick Henry Lowry, was being buried in the
Brandon Cemetery that very morning. Substituting for him was
Colonel Charles E. Hooker.
With school children gathered around singing "Dixie" and "Bonnie
Blue Flag", the veil was loosed revealing the marble shaft capped
by a seven-foot statue of a Confederate soldier. The foundation
is of brick and concrete. The first base is of stone, the next
three of marble. The total height is thirty-seven (37) feet.
On the west side is carved:
"Lord God of hosts
Be with us yet
Lest we forget,
Lest we forget.
Erected by Brandon Chapter,
United Daughters of the Confederacy,
1861 Deo Vendici 1865."
A Confederate flag, a gun, a sword, and a bayonet are also
to be seen on the west.
On the south side is carved:
"Love's Tribute to the Noble Men
Who marched 'neath the
Folds of the Stars and
Bars and who were
Faithful to the end.
Under the sod and dew
Waiting the Judgment Day."
On the east side is carved:
"To those who wore the grey:
In legend and lay
Our heroes in grey
Shall forever live over
Again for us.
The epitaph of the soldier
who falls for his country is
written in the hearts of those
who love the right and honor the brave."
On the north side is carved:
"States' Rights and Home Rule,
Truth crushed to earth will rise again.
Men die, principles live forever
And, though conquered, we adore it;
Weep for those who fell before it;
Pardon for those who trailed and tore it."
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