CAPE'S CIVIL WAR SHRINE TO BE MOVED

Wednesday is moving day for the monument erected in 1931 to commemorate the one confederate troop gathered from Cape Girardeau during the Civil War.

The monument was placed at the Morgan Oak Plaza, the Morgan Oak Street median just before the Mississippi River bridge, 64 years ago by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

With construction of a new bridge, members of a historic group, the Civil War Round Table, last month asked the Cape Girardeau County Commission if the monument could be moved to Common Pleas Courthouse Park in Cape Girardeau at the group's expense. The commission agreed. The monument will be near the fountain in the park.

A round table member, Jack Dragoni, said the $2,500 needed for the relocation came from a grant given to organizations that coordinate historic preservation. He said another historical foundation, the Sons of the Confederacy, found the grant for the round table.

The hand-carved monument stands 14 1/2 feet tall and weighs 12 1/2 tons. It was delivered in four pieces: three slabs that serve as a base and a tapered marker, all made of Georgia silver-gray marble.

One side of the monument reads "C.S.A.," standing for the Confederate States of America. Below the letters, the Confederate flag has been chiseled into the marble. The south side of the monument says, "Dedicated to the Confederate Soldiers of Southeast Missouri."

The original dedication of the monument featured decedents of prominent Civil War veterans and city leaders.

Three men who were confederate soldiers during the Civil War also were present during the ceremony. Frank Rodgers of Benton, Frank Oldham of Jackson and Lilbourn Lewis of New Madrid didn't speak during the monument's unveiling, but they were clad in their gray uniforms of the Confederate Army, according to a Nov. 23, 1931, article in the Southeast Missourian.

J.W. Reynolds Monument Co. has constructed a foundation at the new site and is in charge of moving the monument. Although the monument will be moved next week, Dragoni said it won't be dedicated until Nov. 11, Veterans Day.

In addition to the monument rededication, a parade and Civil War re-enactment are planned that day.

Dragoni said the Colonial Cape Foundation has agreed to host the mock battle, and the Veterans Day parade will start in Capaha Park and end at Common Pleas Courthouse. He said several organizations have gotten involved in the Veterans Day activities. They hope to have a meeting in the next couple of weeks and work out details of the day's events, he said.