Duval County FlArchives News.....In Honor of Gallant Dead Confederate Monument is Unveiled June 17, 1898
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Jan Kuhn kuhn_j@firn.edu May 30, 2008, 8:52 pm

Florida Times Union June 17, 1898
June 17, 1898
IN HONOR OF GALLANT DEAD
CONFEDERATE MONUMENT IS UNVEILED
IMPESSIVE CEREMONIES
BOYS IN BLUE DO HONOR TO THE BOYS WHO WORE THE GRAY
A splendid pageant through the streets of Jacksonville, which is participated 
in by the United States Troops, Police Force, City Official and ex-Confederate 
Soldiers - Details of the Unveiling, Etc.
     This has been a great day for Jacksonville, and besides the home folk and 
soldiers encamped here, thousands of people from all portions of Florida and 
many from other States gathered at the City park to-day to behold the handsome 
present presented to the Confederate Veterans of Florida by C. C. Hemming and 
to participate in the patriotic exercises of the day incident to the unveiling 
of the monument.
                                  ORDER OF THE PARADE
   By 8 a.m. the procession began to form on Market street from Adams to Bay 
for the purpose  of marching to the park.  At 9:30 the procession moved off in 
the following order:
    Four mounted police officers; twenty six policemen afoot, under command of 
Lieutenant Brough; General William Baya, marshal of the day, and Judge W. B. 
Young and Dr. A. D. Williams, aides, mounted military officers; with drawn 
swords; military band; three mounted military officers; regiment of troops, 
comprising one company of one hundred and six men and officers from each of 
the nine regiments  now at Camp Cuba Libre; Wilson’s (Jacksonville) Battery, 
under command of Captain J. Gumbinger, an ex-Union soldier; R. M. Mitchell 
Post, Grand Army of the Republic, thirteen veterans, carrying a handsome flag; 
R. E. Lee Camp, Confederate Veterans and visiting veterans, carrying two 
Confederate flags; a float, handsomely canopied and decorated, drawn by four 
horses with sixteen ladies clad in white with red sashes, upon which were 
inscribed the name of a State and one representing the Confederacy; Stonewall 
Jackson Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans, carriages containing Governor 
Bloxham and other distinguished gentlemen and also ladies; the fire 
department, led by Chief Haney in his buggy, chemical engine, two trucks and 
four wagons.
   The drum and fife corps were from the Second New Jersey Regiment.
   The line of march was from Market to Bay, west to Hagan, north to Forsyth, 
east to Main, north to Duval, west to Hogan, south to Monroe, and east to 
Laura, this being at St. James Park, where the exercises took place.
                                   AT THE CITY PARK
   When the procession arrived at the park thousands of people had preceded it 
and stood there beneath rays of piercing hot sun for more than two hours.
   N. A. Hull, commander of R. E. Lee camp, opened the proceedings by calling 
the gathering to order.  Bishop Weed offered prayer.  The hymn, “Our Father 
God, to Thee,” was sung by a chorus of ladies and gentlemen.
   Miss Sarah Eliza Call, the handsome young daughter of Judge R. M. Call, 
then pulled on the cord to unveil the monument, but the cord snapped before 
the veil was removed.
                                    DISPATCH FROM MR. HEMMING
   Dr. R. B. Burroughs, of this city, then read the following dispatch:
                           “Gainesville, Tex., June 15, 1898
“To Gen. J. J. Dickison, commander of United Confederate Veterans of 
Jacksonville:
        
To all I send tender greetings, wishing a happy reunion and many returns. 
Charles C. Hemming”
   Ex-Governor F. P. Flemming then mounted the stand and delivered the address 
of welcome, which many said was the best effort of his life.  The Governor was 
very patriotic and spoke in eloquent terms of the donor of the monument and 
the cause for which the donor and others fought.  Every word was to the 
point.  He not only welcomed his former comrades in arms to this grand 
occasion, but every one either from the North or the south.  He was constantly 
applauded.
   While he was speaking the Wilson Battery stationed at the foot of Main 
street, fired thirteen guns.
                               FIREMEN TO THE RESCUE
   Assistant Chief Singer of the fire department came up with his ladders and 
unveiled the monument at the conclusion of Governor Flemming’s speech.
   Hon. R. H. M. Davidson, of Quincy, was introduced as orator of the day, by 
Governor Fleming as chairman of the committee of arrangements.
   Though mostly read from manuscript this veteran of the lost cause was 
eloquent and pathetic.  He tendered the monument to the State of Florida in a 
most touching and patriotic manner.  He told of the past and followed it up to 
the present and cited the changes and the pleasant relations existing to-day  
between those who 35 years ago were at war with each other.  He also paid a 
glowing tribute to Mr. Hemming, and thanked him in the name of the Confederate 
Veterans of Florida.
                                GOVERNOR BLOXHAM’S SPEECH
   The monument was accepted by W. D. Bloxham, Governor of Florida, in his 
usual happy and eloquent style.  As usual, he did himself and his State 
credit, and promised not only to take the generous gift, but to preserve it as 
one of the treasures of the State - An emblem of the noble heroism of a people 
devoted to a cause they loved though lost.  The maimed and hoary headed men 
around him needed no imperishable shaft to remind them of the past.  It was to 
remind the coming generations of the heroic courage of those already gone.  In 
the name of the State of Florida , he thanked the giver of this great gift 
and  he thanked God that we to-day were no more at war with each other, but 
stood in one solid phalanx as Americans, ready to defend and to die for one 
and the same beloved land.  He thanked the patriotic men and women of Florida, 
who had organized societies to perpetuate the memory of those who fought for a 
cause they thought just.  He was proud to see amid the throng  so many 
soldiers, not of the North or the South, but of America, and to know in the 
present war the same patriotic impulse extended from the North to the South, 
and from the East to the West.
                                     GEN. LEE’S ELOQUENT ADDRESS
   General Fitzhugh Lee was the next speaker, and he talked most 
patriotically.  He soon captivated the multitude and they were thoroughly  
enthused before he closed.  He said he had been a Confederate soldier, but now 
he was an American soldier, ready to protect the honor of our common county. 
In most eloquent language did he picture the past  and the present.  He told 
of events that other veterans fully attested and remembered and brought tender 
recollections of the past to many for the moment.
   In thrilling language he referred to the present conflict and the union of 
sentiment of the people of this country, and the patriotic manifestation to 
join together and march under the Stars and stripes against a common enemy.  
Each speaker was loudly applauded.
   “La Marseillaise, was then sung and Rev. W. H. Dodge pronounced the 
benediction and the sun baked and sweltering crowd soon dispersed.
                                         A SKETCH OF MR. HEMMING
   Charles Cornelius Hemming was born about fifty years ago in Jacksonville, 
the son of Colonel John Charles Hemming and Mrs. Hemming, at the old homestead 
at the northwest corner of Bay and Liberty streets.  His parents have long 
since died and the homestead passed into other hands.  Here also was born his 
brothers and sisters - Elbert Hemming, still a resident of Jacksonville; E. A. 
Hemming of Suwannee county, Florida, and Mrs. Annie Malone, wife of Judge John 
W. Malone of Quincy, Fla.  Another sister died in Texas after the war.  Their 
parents are buried in Jacksonville’s City Cemetery.
   C. C. Hemming in the winter of 1886 went to Texas and is now a resident of 
Gainesville, in that State.  He married Miss Lucy Key, in that State.  He is a 
prominent banker and holds a number of honorable positions in financial 
circles.  He was prominent in business and social circles and has many friends 
here, won years ago.
   On October 22, 1896, Mr. hemming attended the reunion at Ocala, Fla., of 
the confederate Veterans,  and there made known his intention to donate to the 
veterans of Florida the monument dedicated and unveiled today.  
   Like all other young Southern men, he had his hardships as a Confederate 
soldier, being a member of the Jacksonville Light Infantry, enlisting in 1861, 
and participating in nearly every engagement in the western army.  He was 
wounded at the battle of Perryville, Ky., October 8, 1862, and was captured at 
Missionary Ridge and was held a prisoner at Rock Island, Ill., where he 
suffered much until he escaped September 28, 1864, and went to Canada and was 
attached to raiders by Captain J. Y. Beale.  The latter was hung as a spy by 
the Federals.  He was twice captured as a raider, but each time escaped and 
finally rejoined his company at Goldsboro, N. C.
                             THE MONUMENT
   The last stone of the monument was put in place last Friday.  The monument 
stands in the center of the City Park - a tract of land donated by I. D. Hart, 
the founder of the city, for park purposes.  The last piece of the monument to 
be put in place as the bronze figure of a confederate soldier, wearing an 
ulster and a cap, with “J. L. 1.” on it.  The piece faces south and is eight 
feet and five inches high and weighs nearly two tons.  
   The monument is sixty-two feet high.  The round shaft is seventeen feet and 
six inches in length and is all one solid piece of Georgia granite.  The base 
stones are three of different sizes, forming step-like elevations  around the 
monument.  The die stone weighs ten tons.  The largest base stone is twenty 
feet and eight inches square.  The curbing is thirty-nine feet square.
   On the south side of the monument the four squared die stone or temple has 
cross-swords in the alcove and beneath  them the engraving, “Tried and True,”  
and beneath this is the bust of General J. J. Dickison, commander of the 
Florida Division of the United Confederate Veterans and who was one of 
Florida’s heroes in the late war and now a resident of Ocala, Fla.  Under the 
bust are the words, “J. J. Dickison,” all in bronze.
   On the east side is an anchor and crossed oars, representing the 
Confederate navy, and on the bronze tablet beneath are the following lines in 
block raised letters:
“To the Soldiers of Florida”
 “This shaft is by a comrade raised in testimony of his love, recalling deeds 
immortal.
   “Heroism unsurpassed, with ranks unbroken, ragged, starved and decimated, 
the Southern soldier, for duty’s sake, undaunted stood to the front of battle 
until no light remained to illumine the field of carnage save the luster of 
his chivalry and courage.”
   “Nor shall your glory be forgot
      While fame here record keeps,
    Or honor points the hallowed spot,
       Where valor proudly sleeps.”
   On the fourth base, which is Vermont marble, beneath the above lines are 
inscribed, “Confederate Memorial, 1861-1865.”
   The north side has the bronze bust of General E. Kirby Smith, who was born 
at St. Augustine and served with distinction in the Confederate army of the 
West.  His bust is surrounded with two rifles laying at full length  and “A 
Christian Soldier” is inscribed above the bust, and beneath it, “E. Kirby 
Smith.”
   On the west side two cannons crossed are in the alcove, and then follows 
the inscription, “Our Heroes,” with General R. E. Lee on horseback, with guard 
and drum corps, facing General Stonewall Jackson, also on horseback, 
accompanied by others, representing their last meeting on the battlefield of 
Chancellorsville, Va. Below on the base re inscribed, “God Bless Our Country - 
1898”
   George H. Mitchell, of Chicago, furnished and erected the monument.
                     PATRIOTIC SENTIMENTS
     The patriotism that prompted Mr. Hemming to erect the monument in 
Jacksonville is best told by quoting a few remarks that were made at a 
reception tendered him in Jacksonville 1 February, 1896.  After paying a 
glowing tribute to several of the Confederate leaders, he said:
   “But, first, let your tribute be paid to those to whom no monument shall 
rise.  Some of them are with you.  Don’t forget to help them.  God is the one 
who makes the harvest; we only reap it.  I want to perpetuate the courage, the 
patriotism and the heroism of those gallant men who responded to the call of 
duty, not of animosity.  The war is over.  It will never be fought again.  I 
would do nothing to perpetuate the animosity which that struggle roused.  I 
have several thousand brick in the Grant monument; I wish I had a hundred 
thousand.  I helped to erect the monument to the gallant Custer.  Such men are 
a credit to their country  and they make the history of our country glorious.  
If any of those who fought  on the other side of what used to be called Mason 
and Dixon’s line want to erect a monument to their departed heroes, let us 
help them.  I will.  I want you to feel that Mrs. Hemming and myself are 
erecting this shaft to perpetuate the feeling that sent our fallen heroes to 
the field of battle and death at the call of duty.”
                                SURROUNDINGS OF THE PARK
   When Mr. Hemming left Jacksonville to find a new home in the West the city 
Park only existed in name.  Neither shrub or shape distinguished it from other 
vacant plots.  There was no six-story St. James Hotel on the north side of the 
park, but breastworks, trenches and soldiers huts of the last war.  There was 
no Windsor Hotel towering up on the west side, covering the front of an entire 
block, but a vacant lot overgrown with weeds.  There was no opera house on the 
east side, but an old and dilapidated two-story hotel - the Union Hotel.  The 
only building fronting the park after the war that still remains is the 
residence of the late C. Drew, now occupied by his children, on the northeast 
corner of Monroe and Hogan streets.  On the next corner north, where the 
Oxford Hotel now stands, was the humble home of Mrs. Ivers, long since dead.
   All the above changes have been made since the generous donor of this shaft 
of honor left his native home.  The entire town was within a small compass and 
with few buildings of much size.  The Sanderson residence, corner of Ocean and 
Forsyth streets was conceded to be then the largest and best house in the 
city.  The hotels in those days were the present St. Johns House and the 
Taylor House which occupied the site of the present Carleton Hotel.
                                           NOTES
One veteran fainted at the meeting.
Shade was worth a dollar a square inch at the park.
   The Daughters of the Confederacy turned out well.
   Pope & McLaurin contributed many watermelons to the soldiers.
   Governor Bloxom not only had his military staff present, but his cabinet.
   The appearance of the G. A. R. Post in the procession to-day brought forth 
enthusiastic applause.
   The Wilson Battery gave an exhibition drill, after the speaking, in front 
of the Windsor Hotel, firing the Gatling gun several times.
   The large, fine looking men of the New Jersey company were selected from 
each of the different companies in that regiment and attracted much attention.
   The following is the list of young ladies representing the different 
Confederate states, who were in the procession this morning: Misses Kittie 
Roby, Mammie Rogers, Belle Dewson, Minnie Sollee, Elizabeth Fleming, Mary 
Fleming, May Colcock, Alleen Buckman, Isabelle Livingston, Ruby Dupont, Anna 
Taliaferro, Julia Cook, Lillie Creaser, Annie Champlain, Julia Stockton, Lena 
Dancy.
   Judge Wright, who was General Lee’s immediate escort to the stand, in 
introducing him to the Confederate Veterans and Grand Army  men, 
remarked: “General, these old boys look so much alike you can’t  tell the 
difference between a rebel and a Yankee,” to which the general replied, with a 
twinkle I his eye, “I guess there is no difference now.”
   While Lieutenant Carbonel was doing duty on the stand, talking to the 
ladies assembled around him, he was seen, more than once to cast a glance 
toward the balcony of the Windsor Hotel.  Some one asked him who he was 
looking for, and he replied that he was looking at his wife, who stood where 
she could see him from the porch.
                                       GEN. DICKISON RE-ELECTED
   It was late yesterday afternoon before the United Confederate Veterans of 
Florida finished their business.  They had spent the forenoon in preliminaries 
at the opera house.  The election of a commander occupied much time, several 
speeches being made.  General William Baya, of this city, and General J. J. 
Dickison were placed in nomination and General Dickison was erected, this 
being his fifth term.
   Tallahassee was selected as the place for holding the next annual reunion.
   After the above proceedings were concluded N. A. Hull, of this city and W. 
H. Jewell, of Orlando, were elected brigadier generals of the second and third 
brigades respectively. 

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