The Soldier's Monument at Shelby seems to be all that could be desired
from anyone's standpoint. There's nothing boastful, nothing flattering or
inconsistent. It simply expresses a patriotic duty performed in the
greatest crisis in the history of our country. That generation passed
through an ordeal second to none in the annals of modern history. Their
descendants by whom it is erected have no apologies to make. The massive
granite column, to last for ages, will tell the simple story of pride in
the heroic fortitude of such ancestry--and will ever be an inspiration to
the rising manhood of coming generations. It is most fitting that it is
erected now after more than forty years of candid deliberation. If it had
been erected thirty years ago it would only have represented our fallen
heroes. Ten years ago, when it was first suggested to rear a monument for
all Confederate soldiers, living and deceased, the living generally
protested, thinking it egotistical or boastful to erect a monument to
themselves. But the Daughters were too enthusiastic to wait for all the
old soldiers to die, and now all old soldiers approve their course and are
most grateful for the monument to their comrades, which by and by will
stand for all.
The statue on the monument is a good specimen of the stalwart private
soldier, and would well represent Private Charles Blanton, of the
Fifty-fifth N. C. Regiment, who once captured fourteen prisoners on the
skirmish line. Having heard his comrades tell of this heroic deed a few
years ago, I asked Mr. Blanton how he did it. He said: "We were ordered to
drive the Yankee skirmishers back and locate their battle line. As we
advanced on them we saw several taking shelter in a rifle pit, when six or
eight of us made a rush to take the pit, and when I got there they ducked
down and looked scared, and I ordered them to thrown down their guns and
get out of there quick, and they obeyed promptly. As I stepped behind them
I saw that I was alone--the others having all been shot down--and seeing
their battle line laying flat close by, ordered my prisoners to
double-quick to the rear, and I trotted them out all right. When I
commanded them to surrender, I thought my comrades were close by, and I
had them under good control before I knew any better."
Mrs. Stonewall Jackson refusing a $1,200 pension, while indigent widows
and veterans only get a pittance, may cause them to get $150,000 more than
heretofore. It is the happiest thought that our countrymen still
appreciate most highly the principle that money can not buy. Mrs. Jackson
belongs to history, linked to a name that will live through the ages, an
inspiration to the highest ideals of patriotic devotion, that bring most
desirable achievements that untold generations will be proud to honor.