Confederate Monument of Morganfield
Encyclopedia
The Confederate Monument of Morganfield, Kentucky
is a monument to fallen Confederate soldiers from surrounding Union County, Kentucky
, of which Morganfield is the county seat. It is in the northernmost corner of the City Cemetery/Odd Fellows Cemetery just outside downtown Morganfield. Ironically, during the War "Union" County was mostly a Confederate-sympathizing county. The county produced 657 soldiers for the Confederacy
, but only 187 for the Union, although 131 blacks would join the Union forces in 1864. In July 1862, Union forces at Caseyville, Kentucky threatened to arrest everyone in the town of treason
, eventually freeing all but nineteen citizens. A skirmish in Morganfield on September 1, 1862, resulted in a Confederate victory.
The monument consists of a limestone base supporting a white marble obelisk
. Inscribed on the monument were the names of sixty-four fallen soldiers, and stated that "Union County mourns the loss of:". Due to its age, much of its text is now illegible.
Nathan Bedford Forrest
led the first troops to enter the county during the War on a scouting expedition in November 1861.In 1864 there was much guerrilla activity in the area.
On July 17, 1997, the Confederate Monument of Morganfield was one of sixty-one different monuments related to the Civil War in Kentucky placed on the National Register of Historic Places
, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission.
Morganfield, Kentucky
Morganfield is a city in Union County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 3,494 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Union County...
is a monument to fallen Confederate soldiers from surrounding Union County, Kentucky
Union County, Kentucky
Union County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1811. As of 2010, the population was 15,007. Its county seat is Morganfield.-Geography:Union County is part of the Western Coal Fields region of Kentucky...
, of which Morganfield is the county seat. It is in the northernmost corner of the City Cemetery/Odd Fellows Cemetery just outside downtown Morganfield. Ironically, during the War "Union" County was mostly a Confederate-sympathizing county. The county produced 657 soldiers for the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
, but only 187 for the Union, although 131 blacks would join the Union forces in 1864. In July 1862, Union forces at Caseyville, Kentucky threatened to arrest everyone in the town of treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
, eventually freeing all but nineteen citizens. A skirmish in Morganfield on September 1, 1862, resulted in a Confederate victory.
The monument consists of a limestone base supporting a white marble obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
. Inscribed on the monument were the names of sixty-four fallen soldiers, and stated that "Union County mourns the loss of:". Due to its age, much of its text is now illegible.
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Nathan Bedford Forrest was a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He is remembered both as a self-educated, innovative cavalry leader during the war and as a leading southern advocate in the postwar years...
led the first troops to enter the county during the War on a scouting expedition in November 1861.In 1864 there was much guerrilla activity in the area.
On July 17, 1997, the Confederate Monument of Morganfield was one of sixty-one different monuments related to the Civil War in Kentucky placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission.