A Rededication in Vicksburg

Thanks to an alert blog reader, I learned recently that the Iowa Monument at Vicksburg National Military Park is being rededicated this weekend. If I didn’t already have plans – and if I hadn’t taken a trip to Vicksburg a mere two and half years ago – I might have considered attending.

Steve in front of the Iowa Monument in October 2010

My great-grandfather, G. Oliver Riggs, attended the original dedication of the monument on Nov. 15, 1906. He played cornet in the 51st Iowa Regimental Band, led by Maj. George Landers, and the band was part of a state delegation of veterans, officials and family members that dedicated monuments to Iowa soldiers at Vicksburg, Shiloh, Andersonville and Chattanooga. The dedication trip was particularly meaningful for my great-grandfather because his father, Jasper Riggs, fought at Vicksburg and Shiloh with the 45th Illinois Infantry.

The Iowa Monument in Vicksburg was completed in 1912 at a cost of $100,000. It’s constructed of Vermont white granite, and it also features six bronze relief panels that depict scenes from the Vicksburg campaign.

A close-up view of the monument in 2010, before it got spiffed up for the 150th anniversary.

The monument apparently was in great need of fixing up after years of baking in the Mississippi sun, so the Iowa Legislature authorized funds for its repair, just in time for the 150th anniversary of the Vicksburg campaign. The monument will be rededicated on Saturday at 10 a.m. by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad.

The blog reader who alerted me to the story is among a group of Iowans leaving tomorrow on a bus to attend the festivities, which include a performance by the U.S. Navy Band. You can read more about the Memorial weekend events in Vicksburg by clicking here.

I dont know if the reading of poetry is on the schedule, but if anyone in the 2013 Iowa delegation is looking for ideas, this one by S.H.M. Byers would be most appropriate:

Go read the story of thy past. Iowa, O! Iowa
What glorious deeds, what fame thou hast!         

 Iowa, O! Iowa!

So long as time’s great cycle runs,
Or nations weep their fallen ones,
Thou’lt not forget thy patriot sons, Iowa, O! Iowa

– from “The Song of Iowa” by S.H.M. Byers