But I submit that there\u2019s an even more compelling reason, one that makes moving the monument back downtown not only the best option, but also, the moral duty of the city and its residents.<\/p>\n

And a visitor is coming to Wheeling this Saturday who is a living example of this reason.<\/p>\n

But first, let us consider the true meaning of Wheeling\u2019s Soldiers\u2019 & Sailors\u2019 Monument by revisiting that late Spring day, 133 years ago, when the monument was originally dedicated.<\/p>\n

\u201cTears From Heaven Mingle With the Tears of Men\u201d<\/h2>\n
$\"The$ <\/a>
The scene at the dedication of Wheeling\u2019s Soldiers\u2019 & Sailors\u2019 Monument on May 30, 1883. This image appeared in the Wheeling Bicentennial program in 1969 courtesy Gruber Photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A menacing canopy of black clouds blocked the sun from the streets of Wheeling on the afternoon of May 30, 1883. But the threatening skies could not deter the more the more than fifteen thousand people who packed the area around the West Virginia state capitol building at 16th and Chapline Streets.<\/p>\n
Faces filled the windows of surrounding buildings. More people crowded the rooftops of nearby houses. Still more stood atop freight cars and piles of lumber in the B. & O.\u2019s old rail yard<\/a> \u2013 all eager to witness the dedication of a new monument.<\/p>\n
Wheeling\u2019s public and private buildings and even riverboats were draped in flags and patriotic bunting while citizens, adults, and children alike, waved small flags of their own. \u201cIt was the universal comment that never before had the decorations on Memorial Day been so profuse,\u201d the city paper declared.<\/p>\n
As those at the outskirts of the throng jostled and strained to hear the speaker at the podium, the city drum corps thundered into \u201cCapitol Square\u201d at the head of a procession of well-dressed old soldiers from Wheeling, Martins Ferry, Bridgeport, and Bellaire. Just two decades prior, some of the same men had fought at bloody places like Antietam\u2019s \u201cSunken Road\u201d and Gettysburg\u2019s \u201cCemetery Ridge.\u201d That same morning, the men had decorated the graves of their fallen comrades in local cemeteries with flags, bouquets, and wreaths of flowers. There were marchers clad in full dress uniforms, some bearing flags or banners of silk. An honor guard armed with muskets marched just ahead of the Wheeling veterans \u2013 members of the Holliday Post<\/a>, Grand Army of the Republic \u2013 some of whom carefully cradled the tattered remnants of the battle flag<\/a> of the 7th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment.<\/p>\n
Behind these men rumbled a horse-drawn carriage transporting a handful of much older, frailer looking men, some with long white beards \u2013 veterans of the War of 1812. Next came a wagon bearing veterans of the War with Mexico. Behind them came more carriages filled with dignitaries. And behind these marched German Singing Societies<\/a> displaying handsome silk banners of their own. Several divisions of the City Fire Department and mounted members of the Wheeling Butcher\u2019s Association brought up the rear.<\/p>\n
As the procession fell into ranks around the large wooden stage in Capitol Square, a children\u2019s choir sang, \u201cMy Country Tis of Thee,\u201d after which the \u201cGerman Chorus\u201d broke into song. The monument, a behemoth cut from Rhode Island granite, with a soldier seated on the right and a sailor on the left part of the pedestal beneath a \u201ccrowning statue representing Union\u201d brandishing a shield and sword, stood at the east end of the stage, draped in wreaths of pine and patriotic bunting.<\/p>\n
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The crowd cheered as Dr. Thomas Logan stepped forward to present the monument to the Holliday Post on behalf of the Soldiers\u2019 Aid Society, the group that had commissioned the monument.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is eminently fitting,\u201d he said, \u201cthat this monument should be dedicated by the surviving comrades of those in whose memory chiefly it was erected. For this purpose it is now at your disposal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commandant G. B. Jones accepted the monument on behalf of the Post saying: \u201cIn the name of my comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, representing as they do all soldiers and sailors who defended the integrity and authority of the nation, I thank you and those whom you represent for this memorial shaft. Its very silence is impressive. Without articulate speech it is eloquent. It needs no word. It is itself an oration.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cGerman chorus\u201d then sang the \u201cStar Spangled Banner\u201d as the flag was raised.<\/p>\n
$\"Cover$ <\/a>
Cover of Soldiers\u2019 Monument Poem by William Leighton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Mr. William Leighton<\/a>, an immigrant from England, glass worker, and poet then stepped forward to read the poem<\/a> he had created for the occasion.<\/p>\n
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\u201cProclaim our honored ones enduringly:
\nOr if time levels all that mankind rears,
\nMay this fair stone endure as many years
\nAs the lone Sphinx hath sat in Egypt\u2019s sand,
\nOr as the oldest pyramid shall stand.
\nBut when harsh years these crumbling stones decay,
\nThe deeds they honor shall not pass away:
\nA stronger record holds each hero\u2019s name,
\nAnd deathless stars forever hymn his fame;
\nFor while Eternal Goodness rule\u2019s o\u2019er men
\nEach higher act employs an angel\u2019s pen.\u201d
\n-Excerpt from Soldiers\u2019 Monument Poem by William Leighton<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The crowd dispersed to the strains of \u201cYankee Doodle.\u201dAfter raving about the solemnity and patriotism of the occasion, the city paper could not resist offering a final critique: \u201cIt did look bad though to see some of the blue coats smoking stogies while marching.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\"2016-08-24_16_16_25\"$ <\/a>EMAIL<\/a> to Order<\/p>\n
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Monument Man<\/h2>\n
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$\"Ed$ <\/a>
Ed Bearss at the Soldiers & Sailors Monument site at Wheeling Park, August 6, 2016.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Edwin Bearss<\/a> is best known as a Civil War historian and battlefield guide and as an expert commentator in Ken Burns\u2019s PBS documentary, The Civil War<\/em><\/a>. But he is also an American hero, for very different reasons. After high school in 1942, 19-year-old Ed Bearss enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and was sent to the Pacific Theater to fight the Japanese Empire. On January 2, 1944, during the invasion of Guadalcanal<\/a>, Ed Bearss, Scout for the 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, was critically wounded by Japanese machine gun fire at \u201cSuicide Creek.\u201d \u201cWhen he hit me it felt like a sledgehammer hit me,\u201d Bearss recalled. A bullet hit him in the shoulders, breaking both of his arms. Another took off his left heel. \u201cI really got angry then,\u201d Bearss said. \u201cThe son of a bitch is shooting a wounded man!\u201d<\/p>\n
$\"US$ <\/a>
US Marine Ed Bearss with the Purple Heart he earned.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"Untitled\"$ <\/a>Mr. Bearss spent more than two years recovering from his injuries before being honorably discharged. Now 93 and a legend in the world of Civil War studies, USMC veteran Ed Bearss returned to Wheeling on Saturday, August 6 as a guest of the West Virginia Independence Hall Foundation<\/a> in partnership with Wheeling Heritage.<\/p>\n
First on the agenda for August 6 was\u00a0 a rare opportunity to have dinner with Ed Bearss<\/a> at the Historic First West Virginia State Capitol Building at 1413 Eoff Street, Wheeling. Proceeds benefited the Campaign to Return the Soldiers & Sailors Monument from Wheeling Park to Downtown Wheeling.<\/p>\n
After dinner, Mr. Bearss proceeded to the courtroom at West Virginia Independence Hall<\/a> to speak<\/a> about the 4th Virginia (West Virginia) Regiment in the Civil War. This lecture was free and open to the Public. A fundraiser auction followed the lecture.<\/p>\n
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The True Meaning of the Soldiers\u2019 & Sailors\u2019 Monument<\/h2>\n
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So why move the monument? Bearss knows the answer. It was dedicated in downtown Wheeling for a very good reason: to honor the \u201cDefenders of the Union,\u201d not just those who wore blue during the American Civil War, but all American veterans, all defenders of the Union, for all time. The fact that veterans of the War of 1812 were present at the 1883 dedication confirms the timelessness of this monument, connecting it to our Nation\u2019s founding period. During the First World War, patriotic loyalty parades staged by immigrant groups inevitably ended at city hall, where a wreath of roses was placed on the Soldier\u2019s & Sailors\u2019 Monument, which had become the symbol of sacrifice and devotion to country.<\/p>\n
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Wheeling Park has been home to the monument for more than half a century\u00a0and has been a good home. But the fact is, we are not honoring our veterans to the best of our ability by keeping the largest and second oldest Civil War monument in the state of West Virginia languishing, virtually hidden, on a hillside at the park. We should honor them by bringing the monument home to a place of honor adjacent to the birthplace of our state, where it can be seen, enjoyed, preserved, protected, and celebrated by residents and visitors alike. This is our duty, as beneficiaries of their sacrifices, to those who have served and to those who will serve in the future. I\u2019m confident that the men who fought at Antietam and Gettysburg and Suicide Creek and Bloody Ridge and Hamburger Hill and Fallujah would want it that way. We owe it to them to do the right thing: to bring the Soldiers\u2019 & Sailors\u2019 Monument back home.<\/p>\n
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The Case for Moving Wheeling\u2019s Soldiers\u2019 & Sailors\u2019 Monument \u201cSo may the future days Come nobly to our State: When, prosperous and great, Her citizens shall praise Those who gave life and all to consecrate Their land to liberty; And<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[40],"tags":[704,118,47,241,706,702,78,102,683,701,35,186,698,703,315,325,669,109,361,705,699],"coauthors":[313],"class_list":["post-4480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archiving-wheeling","tag-capitol-square","tag-city-county-building","tag-civil-war-veterans","tag-decoration-day","tag-edwin-bearss","tag-g-a-r","tag-german-singing-societies","tag-grand-army-of-the-republic","tag-hempfield-yard","tag-holliday-post","tag-memorial-day","tag-monuments","tag-soldiers-sailors-monument","tag-soldiers-monument-poem","tag-statehood","tag-statues","tag-us-marines","tag-veterans","tag-war-of-1812","tag-war-with-mexico","tag-william-leighton"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/FI-2016-08-04_Soldier-Sailo.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5pkc7-1ag","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4480"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4637,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4480\/revisions\/4637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4480"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Monument Man<\/h2>\n\n