Fort Mill Confederate Memorial Marker

HMdb.org

THE HISTORICAL
MARKER DATABASE “Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”

Home — My Markers — Add A Marker — Marker Series — Links & Books — Forum — About Us

Word or Phrase

Add Photo — Add Link — Add Commentary — Correct this page — Print

Fort Mill in York County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Fort Mill Confederate Memorial

By Michael Sean Nix, November 25, 2009

1. Fort Mill Confederate Memorial

South side

Inscription.
[South Side]: 1860
Dum Spiro Spero
Spes Animis Opibuscue Parati
1891
Defenders of
State Sovereignty.
[East Side]:
List of names

[North Side]: 1865
The warrior's banner takes its flight
to greet the warrior's soul.
[West Side]:
List of names

Erected 1891.

Location. 35° 0.462′ N, 80° 56.676′ W. Marker is in Fort Mill, South Carolina, in York County. Marker is at the intersection of Main Street (State Highway 160) and Academy Street, on the left when traveling east on Main Street. Click for map. Marker is in this post office area: Fort Mill SC 29715, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 10 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, as the crow flies. Women of the Confederacy Memorial (a few steps from this marker); Catawba Indian Memorial (a few steps from this marker); To the Faithful Slaves (a few steps from this marker); Confederate Park (within shouting distance of this marker); Fort Mill (about 300 feet away, in a direct line); Unity Presbyterian Church (approx. 0.4 miles away); Jefferson Davis's Flight South, April 26-27, 1865 (approx. 0.7 miles away); Nation Ford (approx. 2.3 miles away); Springfield Plantation (approx. 3 miles away); The Revolution in the Backcountry/ Sumter's Camp at Clems Branch (approx. 4.4 miles away). Click for a list of all markers in Fort Mill.

By Michael Sean Nix, November 25, 2009

2. East side

Additional comments.
1. Fort Mill Confederate Monument
The hamlet of Fort Mill was the site of the organization of one of the first companies raised to defend the South. Captain John M. White commanded this company, known as the Alston Riflemen, and offered its services to South Carolina. Unfortunately, some technicality forced both South Carolina and Alabama to turn down the offer. White later reorganized the company as the York Volunteers, also called the York Guard. It became Company H, 6th S.C.V. Regiment. After the reorganization of the army in 1862, it became Company B, 6th S.C.V. Regiment. White ultimately rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel of the 6th Regiment.

John White's brother, Samuel Elliott White, a former captain of Company B, 7th North Carolina Regiment, organized South Carolina's first branch of the Jefferson Davis Memorial Association in Fort Mill. White conceived the idea of a Confederate park, "a semi-sacred spot" for many Fort Mill citizens.

White, one of the largest property owners in the area, provided the land for the park and led the efforts to erect the four monuments. Although he was financially capable of purchasing them himself, White felt that "if the people of Fort Mill, especially the Confederate veterans, had a part in the purchase of the monuments,

By Michael Sean Nix, November 25, 2009

3. North side

it would result in stronger interest and a deeper feeling of pride." On the park's completion, White donated it not to the municipal government but to the people of Fort Mill. The people subscribed to the fund for the monument honoring the Confederate soldiers, the monuments to the women, and the monument to the faithful slaves. White himself purchased the monument to the Catawba Indians.

White and his associates designed the monuments and ordered them cut to exact specifications. The pure marble statue of the Confederate soldier rests on a marble pedestal surmounting a foundation of cour granite elevations, standing sixteen feet. It is obvious that the figure, a Confederate picket standing at challenge, is not the typical design of most other Confederate monuments of the era. In 1891, White unveiled this monument, intending to...honor the Confederate soldiers, both living and dead, whose names are engraved on the monument. (Source: A Guide to Confederate Monuments in South Carolina: "Passing the Silent Cup" by Robert S. Seigler (1997), pgs 333-334.)

— Submitted January 9, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.

By Michael Sean Nix, November 25, 2009

4. West Side

By Michael Sean Nix, November 25, 2009

5. Fort Mill Confederate Memorial

By Michael Sean Nix, November 25, 2009

6. Fort Mill Confederate Memorial

Credits. This page originally submitted on November 25, 2009, by Michael Sean Nix of Spartanburg, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 816 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on November 25, 2009, by Michael Sean Nix of Spartanburg, South Carolina. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.