photo by Sam Holland
The inscription on this beautiful monument was written by South Carolina diplomat and historian, William Henry Trescot.
On the North side:
- This monument perpetuates the memory of
those
who true to the instincts of their birth, faithful
to the teachings of their fathers, constant in their
love for the state, died in the performance of their
duty...who have glorified a fallen cause by the
simple
manhood of their lives, the patient endurance of
suffering, and the heroism of death...and who in the
dark hours of inprisonment, in the hopelessness of
the hospital, in the short sharp agony of the field,
found support and consolation in the belief that
at home they would not be forgotten.
On the South side:
- Let the stranger, who in future times read
this inscription,
recognize that these were men whom power could not
corrupt,whom death could not terrify, whom defeat
could
not
dishonor, and let their virtues plead for just
judgment
of the cause in which they perished...Let the South
Carolinian of another generation remember that the
state
taught them how to live and how to die, and that
from
her broken fortunes she has preserved for her
children
the priceless treasures of her memories, teaching
all who may claim the same birthright that truth,
courage and patriotism endure forever.