Augusta County: "Inscriptions for Memorial to Women of Confederacy," by W. E. Gonzales, November 1, 1910

Summary: This is a collection of the proposed incriptions for a monument to the women of the Confederacy in Columbia, South Carolina.

Beautiful Sentiments Composed by Editor W. E. GONZALES, of the Columbia State, for South Carolina's Tribute-Lauds Courage of Southern Soldier and Those He Left Behind Him.

Inscriptions which are to be placed upon the South Carolina monument to be reared to the women of the Confederacy have just been decided upon and made public in Columbia, S. C.

A number of writers complied with the request and the proposed inscriptions were submitted anonymously to a committee. As a result of the work of this committee, the commission has adopted the inscriptions proposed by Captain William E. Gonzales, editor of the Columbia State and secretary of the commission.

The two principal inscriptions were selected several months ago, but, owing to delays occasioned by correspondence between the commission and the sculptor in Paris regarding mechanical strictures and other details, the inscriptions are only now available for publication.

The monument commission asked a committee of five to pass on about thirty of the compositions considered worthy of their consideration. That committee was composed of Miss McClintock, president of the College for Women; Stanhope Sams, Litt. D.; the Rev.Dr. W. M. McPheeters, Professor Yates Snowden, LL. D., and Colonel U. R. Brooks.

The commission adopted the report of the committee of judges. Captain Gonzales, being a competitor, had absented himself from the meeting and his compositions were selected as the inscriptions for the south and north sides of the monument.

The four next succeeding compositions were submitted in the order reported by the committee, by Dr. George Armstrong Wauchope, head of the English department of the University of South Carolina, by Dr. E. S. Joynes, professor emeritus of modern languages at the university, by the Rev. A. M. Fraser, D. D., of Staunton, Va., who last summer was invited to become president of the Columbia Theological Seminary, and by W. Banks Dove, formerly superintendent of city schools of Washington, N. C., and now Assistant Secretary of State. Their respective works are submitted in this article as exhibits A, B, C and D.

Following is the formal inscription prepared by the commission:
To
The South Carolina Women of
the Confederacy.
1861-'65.
Reared
by the Men of Their State.

The Legislature's part will be conveyed in a line "Enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina" legible on a scroll being held up to the women by a bronze cupid.

Following are the two inscriptions accepted for the North and South sides
(South Side)
In this Monument
generations unborn shall hear the
Voice
of a grateful People
testifying to the sublime Devotion
of the Women of South Carolina
in their Country's need
Their unconquerable spirit
strengthened the thin lines of grey
Their tender care was solace to the
stricken.
Reverence for God
and unfaltering Faith in a righteous
Cause
inspired Heroism that withstood
the immolation of sons
and Courage that bore the agony of
suspense
and the shock of disaster.
The tragedy of the Confederacy may
be forgotten
but the fruits of the noble Service
of the Daughters of the South
are our perpetual heritage.

(North Side.)
When reverses followed victories; when want displaced plenty; when mourning for the flower of Southern manhood darkened countless homes; when government tottered and chaos threatened the women were steadfast and unafraid. They were unchanged in their devotion, unshaken in their patriotism, unwearied in ministrations, uncomplaining in sacrifices, splendid in fortitude they strove while they swept. In the rebuilding after the desolation their virtues stood as the supreme citadel with strong towers of faith and hope around which civilization rallied and triumphed.

The other inscriptions, which were already decided upon, are as follows:

This monument is erected to keep alive in the hearts of future South Carolinians the virtues, services and sacrifices of the women of the Confederacy who, by their constancy, under the trials and sufferings of war by their inspiring sympathy with the men at the front by their tender ministrations to the sick and wounded; and by their material aid and unwavering fidelity to the common cause, have won the undying love and gratitude of the people of the South, and have bequeathed to their children from generation to generation the priceless heritage of their memory.

To The Women
of the Confederate South
Whose Constancy
Sustained the Courage
of the Confederate Soldier
in Camp and Field
Whose Virtue protected his Home
Whose Service ministered to his needs
Whose tender care nursed his sufferings
Whose affection cheered his dying hour
Whose smile welcomed his return
And Brightened the Poverty
of his
Desolate Home

They knew their cause was just. They put their trust in God. They gave their men to the war, and cheered them on to immortal deeds and endurance and to death. They ministered to the sick, the wounded and the dying. They braved unspeakable dangers in their defenseless homes. They welcomed poverty as a decoration of honor. In defeat and desolation they inspired the rebuilding of States. They have adorned the whole land with monuments to their fallen heroes.

Erected in memory of those who in the sorrow of the silence and separation endured the agony of a conflict they might not share, whose courage sustained the Southern soldier amid the carnage of the battlefield, whose love and fidelity soothed the suffering of his sickness, whose gentle hand brushed from his pale face the gathering dews of death, whose faith and fortitude faltered not in the darkest hour, whose inspiration transformed the gloom of defeat into the hope of the future, and whose memory shall not be forgot even in the hour of peace.

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Bibliographic Information: Source copy consulted: SHSP, Vol.XXXVIII, p. 359-362, 1910