Description of the Confederate soldiers' and sailors monument.
The pile that commemorates those who fought on land and sea for the
Confederacy, will win universal attention.
Its unveiling is the last chapter of the post-bellum sentiments that follow the
Lost Cause.
The base of the monument consists of four successive layers of stone, making as many steps.
This base is about thirty-five feet square.
These four steps lead up to four pedestals, upon each of which is now a statue.
They emblematize the four branches of the military service: the cavalry, the infantry, the artillery and the marine.
The monument being to the soldiers of
Alabama, it is intended that these typical figures shall do honor to those who fell in each of those grand divisions of the army.
From out of a common center within these surrounding figures rises a circular shaft of stone to a height of seventy feet; at its base this shaft is about three feet in diameter, tapering up to an apex of thirty inches in diameter.
The lower part of the shaft is, in the technical language of sculptors, a sculptured drum, a circular bas relief representing a military march.
The shaft is surmounted by a column with a Corinthian cap. Upon this the pinnacle rests, a female figure in bronze, typifying ‘Patriotism,’ and the womanhood of the
South as well.
The figure upholds a broken flag in one hand, and with the other tenders a sword to her sons, as if sending them forth in defense of the flag.
This figure adds ten feet to the height of the monument, making it reach upward altogether over eighty feet. The height of the cornice on the
State Capitol is about sixty-five feet, so that the monument towers above the roof of that building.
Thus the monument stands forth on
Capitol Hill, a reminder to all
Alabama of the men who fell in the cause that is lost.
It is clearly as visible as the
Capitol itself in all directions.
