"How Grand a Fame It Watches Over": The Fort Fisher Monument

"How Grand a Fame It Watches Over": The Fort Fisher Monument. . In 1932 the North Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) unveiled the Fort Fisher Monument at Battle Acre. It is one of hundreds of monuments the UDC erected throughout the South in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. UDC monuments not only celebrate the valor of Confederate soldiers, they also reflect the culture and values of the women who built them during their struggle to preserve Confederate heritage in the New South., Monuments were key components in the UDC's campaign to honor and vindicate Confederate soldiers and the cause for which they fought. UDC monuments are among the most enduring symbols of the Lost Cause. A justification of secession and explanation for defeat, the Lost Cause asserted a constitutional defense of states' rights, not the institution of slavery, provoked disunion, and that the Confederacy had been defeated only by the Union's overwhelming material resources., The UDC unveiled their monuments with grand ceremonies honoring Confederate veterans and the Daughters for preserving Confederate heritage., In her address at the Fort Fisher ceremony, North Carolina UDC President Mrs. Cecil Long said: , "More monuments to Southern valor have been erected upon Southern soil than have been set up in any other land to any other people. In this cause of preserving the heroic story of the South and immortalizing its illustrious past the Daughters of the Confederacy have equaled the devotion and loyalty of their mothers... They have labored arduously and today is the culmination of a long-cherished dream - a monument at Fort Fisher... We pray it will stir and quicken the pride of every North Carolinian. How grand a fame it watches over.", Sponsored By: , North Carolina Division United Daughters of the Confederacy and Fort Fisher UDC Chapter #2325, (captions) , Background: Dedication of Battle Acre, May 24, 1931 (photo by Helen Lovering), The Fort Fisher Monument has been a centerpiece of Civil War commemoration since its construction. The sesquicentennial observance in January 2015 attracted several thousand attendees including reenactors and local and state dignitaries., The Fort Fisher Monument dedication program included the songs America the Beautiful and Dixie. This musical combination was common when the UDC unveiled monuments, demonstrating regional pride and American patriotism simultaneously., Dedication of the Fort Fisher monument, June 2, 1932 (photo by Helen Lovering)"