Confederate general Johnston's fans find his statue a home
FOUR OAKS -- Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston returned to Bentonville Battlefield on Tuesday, his bronze likeness steeled against modern-day foes: vandals, climbing children and those who believe that erecting memorials to defeated Civil War commanders is a form of racism.
Johnston, politically unpopular during his lifetime, might not be universally welcomed at the state historic site near Four Oaks 145 years hence, either. That's why the Smithfield Light Infantry, a local camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, asked an adjacent property owner to donate land for the memorial and launched a private fundraising effort to pay the $100,000 cost of the statue.
"This is a big investment," said John M. Booker, project chairman for the SCV. "We wanted to put it on private land so that we could do it the way that we wanted."
The battle at Bentonville was fought over three cold, rainy days in March 1865 across 6,000 acres of farm and forest. The historic site includes the area where Johnston had his headquarters, and site manager Donny Taylor said he suggested the group install the statue there....
Read entire article at News Observer (NC)
Johnston, politically unpopular during his lifetime, might not be universally welcomed at the state historic site near Four Oaks 145 years hence, either. That's why the Smithfield Light Infantry, a local camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, asked an adjacent property owner to donate land for the memorial and launched a private fundraising effort to pay the $100,000 cost of the statue.
"This is a big investment," said John M. Booker, project chairman for the SCV. "We wanted to put it on private land so that we could do it the way that we wanted."
The battle at Bentonville was fought over three cold, rainy days in March 1865 across 6,000 acres of farm and forest. The historic site includes the area where Johnston had his headquarters, and site manager Donny Taylor said he suggested the group install the statue there....