Confederate Monument (Franklin, Tennessee)

The Confederate Monument, also known as Chip or Our Confederate Soldiers, is an Italian marble statue of a soldier of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, especially the Battle of Franklin, on the grounds of Williamson County Courthouse in Franklin, Tennessee, U.S..

Dedication
The monument cost "nearly $2,700" to build. It was dedicated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy on November 30, 1899. Confederate General George Gordon attended the dedication, as did the widows and children of Brigadier General John Adams, and Tennessee Governor Benton McMillin. The flag of the 32nd Tennessee Infantry Regiment was hoisted up the pole; The Tennessean noted that it had not appeared in Franklin since 1861.

Karen L. Cox, a Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, argues that like many monuments dedicated by the UDC, it was not built for visitors to the South, but for the descendants of Confederate soldiers. She adds that this monument was built "in the town square so children "might know by daily observation of this monument" the cause for which their ancestors fought."

Restorations
The monument was restored by the City of Franklin at a cost of $750 in 1980. The city restored it again in 2010. During that time, then-Mayor John Schroer opined, "This is an important piece of the city of Franklin."

2017 controversy
In the wake of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a vigil was held near the monument on August 14, 2017. Three days later, a petition calling for its removal was started. Another petition to keep the monument was also started. Both petitions had thousands of signatures by late August. Eric Stuckey, Franklin's city administrator, said the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act prevented the city from removing the monument without the consent of the Tennessee Historical Commission.

Description
The monument contains a Lost Cause flavored inscription that reads: “ERECTED TO / CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS / BY FRANKLIN CHAPTER / NO. 14 / DAUGHTERS OF / THE CONFEDERACY / NOV. 30, A.D. 1899” “ IN HONOR AND MEMORY / OF OUR HEROES / BOTH PRIVATE AND CHIEF / OF THE / SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. / NO COUNTRY EVER HAD / TRUER SONS, / NO CAUSE / NOBLER CHAMPIONS, / NO PEOPLE / BOLDER DEFENDERS / THAN THE BRAVE SOLDIERS / TO WHOSE MEMORY / THIS STONE IS ERECTED.” “WOULD IT BE / A BLAME FOR US / IF THEIR MEMORY PART / FROM OUR LAND AND HEARTS / AND A WRONG TO THEM / AND A SHAME TO US. / THE GLORIES THEY WON / SHALL NOT WANE FROM US. / IN LEGEND AND LAY, OUR HEROES IN GRAY / SHALL EVER LIVE / OVER AGAIN FOR US.” “WE WHO SAW AND KNEW THEM WELL / ARE WITNESSES / TO COMING AGES / OF THEIR VALOR / AND FIDELITY. / TRIED AND TRUE. GLORY DROWNED / 1861-1865

The monument contains a USGS survey marker noting that in 1931 it was 648.82L Ft. above sea level.