It is a beautiful hand-carved memorial. The Rapides Parish Confederate memorial asks the viewer to recall those who served in the Civil War from Rapides Parish and did not return. The front or north face is inscribed:
Dedicated to the Confederate soldiers in Rapides parish
Their memory is enshrined
In the hearts of the people
And the record of their
Sublime self-sacrifice as is
Undying devotion to duty in
The same service of the South and
In the proud heritage of
Loyal posterity.
Erectd by the Thomas Overton Moore Chapter
Daughters of the Confederacy
Alexandria, Louisiana
1914
Faithful to our fallen heroes
On the west face appear these words:
Ye kept the faith
‘Twas glorious thus to die
And woman’s love has
Raised a lofty stone,
To tell the truth to
Those who pass by
On the southern face are carved these words:
In loving memory of the
Mothers and sisters and
Sweethearts of the gallant
Soldiers of Rapides
It was the teaching of the
Southern home which provided
The Southern soldier the
Deep foundation of whose
Duty and reliance of God
By the side of every Southern
Soldier, there marched unseen
A Southern woman
And, on the east side appear the stanza from Rudyard Kipling’s poem:
God of our Fathers,
Known of old, battle line,
Beneath whose awful hand, we hold
Dominion over palm and pine,
Lord God of Hosts be with us yet
Lest we forget, lest we forget
Recessional
Kipling’s poem was first published in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Kipling’s poem, “Recessional,” suggests the British empire will pass one day. But, reliance on God will stand the test of time. The poem warns of a time when all the “pomp of yesterday” recedes. The navies are gone. The achievements of man turn to dust and disappear. Men should be wary of their boasting and pride.
The poem quickly became popular in the U.S. which had seen so many dead just three decades before. The Recessional poem was adopted for many Confederate memorials in this time period. Unlike their Northern antagonists, virtually all Southern boys never saw a proper, marked grave. Few families could visit a grave for their sons and husbands. These memorials took the place of those graveyards.
The memorial includes no words about Jim Crow or maintaining a certain social order. Yet, the Southern Poverty Law Center describes this Rapides Parish memorial as a “symbol of hate and white supremacy.”
Irish Confederates 