Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
A worthy monument
Our inner-Rex Nelson was delighted to see Sonny Rhodes’ profile of Saint Charles in last Monday’s Style Section.
Saint Charles is a small Delta town (population 275) with a big history, as the respected journalism professor shared. Situated on the lower
White River in southern Arkansas County, Saint Charles was the site of a significant Civil War “engagement,” as described by the historical sign located off the White River access.
Arkansas represented the northwestern frontier of the Confederacy, but its location on the western bank of the mighty Mississippi meant it saw plenty of action in the war. And as a main tributary to the lower Mississippi, the White River saw its share.
The grand old Saint Charles Battle Monument pays tribute to the soldiers who died on June 17, 1862, in what’s officially known as the Engagement at Saint Charles.
In this engagement, a flotilla of Union ships steaming upriver encountered Confederate artillery at a bend in the river near Saint Charles, and the famous ironclad USS Mound City was struck by what’s been described as the deadliest cannonball shot of the war.
The ball ripped through the Mound City’s hull and hit the boiler, causing a massive explosion. Of the 175 men onboard, 125 are believed to have been killed, Professor Rhodes writes — 80 from the explosion or scalding steam and 45 from drowning or the bullets of Rebel sharpshooters picking off survivors trying to swim ashore. Twenty-five men were recorded as seriously wounded and another 25 survived injury-free, historical accounts tell us.
Eventually, Union troops of the 46th Indiana Volunteers made it to Saint Charles and overwhelmed the small Rebel garrison. But the skirmish made headlines across the country. That “engagement” sounds an awful lot like a battle to us.
At 18 feet tall and nine feet square at the base, the monument sits in the center of town, directly in the middle of the intersection where Arkansas Street crosses Broadway Avenue. The grand granite edifice has been on the National Register for 27 years. And its National Register nomination noted that the monument was designed by a Northerner in memory “of both Federal and Confederate soldiers,” Mr. Rhodes writes.
The Battle Monument looks the part, as though it would fit right in at another Saint Charles: the famous canopied and streetcar-traveled avenue in New Orleans.
We prefer our statues and monuments the same way we prefer rushing the court in basketball: Less is more. But in the case of the Saint Charles Battle Monument, we like this eye-opening reminder of our past. It gives us a chance to teach. And think.
Thanks, professor.