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October 5, 2009

Cleburne statue unveiled in Ringgold

Mark Andrews, Catoosa County News

Citizens, history buffs and members of the community came to Ringgold’s confederate park on Saturday, Oct. 3, to witness the unveiling of a bronze statue commemorating Gen. Patrick Cleburne. The first annual Ringgold Gap Civil War festival followed for the rest of the day on Robin Road.



Cleburne and the statue

On Nov. 25, 1863, Cleburne used the Ringgold Depot as an anchor to conceal men and cannons, waiting for Union troops. He was charged with the task of holding off approaching Union troops so the Confederates could safely withdraw.

When the line arrived, the Confederate troops fired on them until their retreat. Cleburne then moved his troops to his flanks and stalled the advance of Union troops with 4,100 men versus 12,000.

Ringgold Telephone Co. and the General Patrick Cleburne Society funded the statue. It was designed by sculptor Ron Tunison.

“This event will put Ringgold on the map,” said Stephen McKinney, a civil war historian and event coordinator.

McKinney said this statue is the first statue of a Confederate general to be erected in Georgia in 75 years.

The push to have the statue has been going on since the mid-1990s.

Thomas Cartwright, a Civil War historian, gave the keynote address during the unveiling ceremony.

Cartwright said Cleburne was one of the “few ‘true’ heroes of all time.”

“I believe the most important day of (Cleburne’s) life was on the Battle of Ringgold Gap,” Cartwright said.

Also in attendance were several descendents of Cleburne.



Civil War Festival

After the unveiling, the crowd went to the festival grounds on Robin Road to watch living history presentations, shop at area vendors and watch period entertainment, which included music and storytelling.

Steve Gibson from the Civil War Dinner Theater in Whitwell, Tenn., said the theater volunteered to come to the festival to give people a taste of “real” history.

“We give people a history lesson with real material and real facts,” Gibson said.

The festival also featured a life-size replica of the Hunley submarine, plays, craft demonstrations and a period ball to end the festivities.

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