Confederate-Union Veterans' Monument in Morgantown

The Confederate-Union Veterans' Monument in front of the Butler County Courthouse in Morgantown, Kentucky, was built in the aftermath the Spanish-American War, which helped alleviate the bitterness both sides felt toward the other when it was dedicated to the sacrifice of veterans of both sides of the War of Northern Aggression. It is one of only two monuments in Kentucky that reveres both sides, instead of only one. Butler County, Kentucky had mixed loyalties in the War, with both sides well supported by the county.http://www.trailsrus.com/monuments/reg2/morgantown.html

The monument was dedicated on May 30, 1907. It has a life-sized zinc statue of a Union soldier with kepi hat, winter great coat, and rifle. It stands atop a twelve-foot pedestal, making the entire monument eighteen feet in height. Depictions of Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, and Joseph Wheeler are placed on three sides of the pedestal. On the various sides of the pedestal are the names of several citizens of Butler County who fought on both sides, of of which died during the War and some that were still living when the monument was built in 1907. As a reflection of the joint effort made to build the statue, the monument refers to the conflict as the "War of 1861-5".http://www.trailsrus.com/monuments/reg2/morgantown.html http://kynghistory.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/A6BA819B-44E3-482E-95A9-35FECB12F4A8/0/ThePaperTrailoftheCivilWarinKY18611865.pdf

On July 17, 1997, the Confederate-Union Veterans' Monument was one of sixty-two 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. date=January 8, 1997 author=Joseph E. Brent publisher=National Park Service}}

References

Category: Civil War Monuments of Kentucky MPS Category: Registered Historic Places in Butler County, Kentucky