Unknown Confederate Soldier Monument in Horse Cave information
Civil War memorial in Hart County, Kentucky
United States historic place
Unknown Confederate Soldier Monument in Horse Cave
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Street view of the monument
Show map of Kentucky
Show map of the United States
Nearest city
Horse Cave, Kentucky
Built
1934
Architect
Sam Lively
MPS
Civil War Monuments of Kentucky
NRHP reference No.
97000694[1]
Added to NRHP
July 17, 1997
The Unknown Confederate Soldier Monument in Horse Cave is a monument between Horse Cave, Kentucky and Kentucky Down Under, off the main road between Horse Cave and I-65 on the Old Dixie Highway, in Hart County, Kentucky. Among the various monuments of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission, all of which became part of the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997, it is an oddity for several reasons. First, though meant to imply an obelisk, it was constructed of local materials by a single individual. It was built during the Great Depression in year 1934, long after most monuments to the American Civil War. Instead of the typical limestone and marble from which most monuments were made, the monument uses geodes from Tennessee, a sedimentary/volcanic rocks in which crystals fill a largely hollow interior. The monument is 12 feet high, with a base of five feet square.[2][3]
The monument honors an unknown foot soldier from the 11th Louisiana Infantry, who died prior to the Battle of Munfordville. He was part of a tree-cutting detail. Ordered to rest, he lay down beside a tree. His loaded rifle accidentally discharged when it struck a tree branch; the bullet entered his head below his chin and killed him instantly. The soldier was buried with rocks marking his head and feet. Years later, a wire fence was placed around the grave.[2]
Local tradition says that a man named Sam Lively built the monument, fearing otherwise the grave would become lost.[4]
The monument is technically on private property, but a path through the evergreen trees allows visitors access. A Confederate Naval Jack flies beside the monument.
The Inscription says:
Unknown Soldier C. S. A. was a member of Gen. Clay Anderson division 11th Louisiana Killed September 9, 1862. Erected 1934 by Sam Lively.
^"National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
^ ab"Battle for the Bridge Front Page – the "Unknown Soldier's Monument"". www.scrtc.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2007.
^Civil War in Kentucky
^Re: Munfordville KY Civil War sites
and 23 Related for: Unknown Confederate Soldier Monument in Horse Cave information
States of America (CSA), Confederate leaders, or Confederatesoldiers of the American Civil War. Many monuments and memorials have been or will be removed under...
exists in Dean Cemetery in his home town of Edinburgh, Scotland.[citation needed] The UnknownConfederateSoldierMonumentinHorseCave marks the grave of...
There are more than 160 monuments and memorials to the Confederate States of America (CSA; the Confederacy) and associated figures that have been removed...
monumentsin Kentucky — Union, Confederate or both. The earliest Confederate memorials were, in general, simple memorials. The earliest such monument...
Constitution Slavery and States' Rights United Confederate Veterans UnknownConfederateSoldierMonumentinHorseCave American Civil War reenactment Gods and...
but they were unsuccessful. The soldiers killed American Horse and much of his family after they holed up in a cave for several hours.[citation needed]...
confronted the Confederates. The dead and wounded of Grant's army lay in the heat of Mississippi summer, the odor of the deceased men and horses fouling the...
Campaign, the cave was visited by both Confederate and Union soldiers. During their visits, over 230 soldiers signed their names on the cave's walls. One...
"Ironwood Forest National Monument". Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved December 27, 2020. "Jewel Cave National Monument". National Park Service. May...
in 1995. Monument to the Unknowns, a 5-foot-high (1.5 m) marble sarcophagus erected by the federal government in 1877 to commemorate the 889 unknown Union...
settlements were raided. An exact number is unknown. It is likely higher. George Bent, a Dog Soldierin Black Kettle’s camp, wrote about going on wagon...
civil or internal conflict, result unknown or indecisive, inconclusive Advisory role from the forming of the MAAG in Vietnam to the Gulf of Tonkin incident...
rejected in a referendum by a 54–46% margin in February 1861. After the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in April and Lincoln's call for troops in response...
and campaigns were waged by Confederatesin this region, especially in efforts to control the major rivers. Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest...
of George Washington. Days before the 150th anniversary of the ConfederateMonument's dedication was to be observed, it was vandalized. The vandalism...
prevent Confederate sympathizers from voting. This was also election day for local offices, and elections were also held in camps of Confederatesoldiers, who...
Point National Monument (French: Pointe de Pauvreté; 16 WC 5) is a prehistoric earthwork constructed by the Poverty Point culture, located in present-day...
to Confederate lines enabled pro-Confederate guerrillas, such as Quantrill's Raiders, to attack Union strongholds and massacre the residents. In Texas...
the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. In the 1900s these lands were taken by the U.S. government without the consent of the Confederated Salish...
Americans, served in the Union Army or the Union Navy during the Civil War, compared to over 40,000 soldiers who served in Kentucky Confederate regiments. The...
where the role of the horse was taken by aircraft, or used aircraft as nothing more than vehicles for stunts to excite audiences. In 1926, the first "proper"...
approached the sacred cave. Not far from the cave was a village of about 100 huts filled with many warriors. The two scouts tethered their horses to a thicket...
Global Information
