A sculptor has been chosen! Gary Casteel will be creating
our POW statue for CMP! He is a nationally recognized historical
sculptor of bronze figures/statues. He is a member of the National
Sculpture Society and the Company of Military Historians. Among
his credits are the equestrian monument of Gen. James Longstreet
featured at the Gettysburg National Military Park, the KY State
Memorial at the Vicksburg National Military Park and the 13th
NC Monument for South Mountain Battlefield.
Click
here to watch our POW Statue in the making!
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I am extremely pleased to have been chosen
as the sculptor for the project. I firmly believe that this
particular project ranks near if not at the top of Confederate
Memorial priorities. A very exciting project for sure!!!
...Gary Casteel
January 2008: Still in the process of adding clay to
the body shape and should have a picture for you via email
of the
rough-in, less hands and feet by early this month. I will
be ready for an on site review of the piece by the project
committee and afterwards, the final strike down and completion
of the clay by mid to late February.
February 15, 2008: The POW figure is
complete!!! We have had a number of individuals into the
studio to see the figure.
To the last person, they all admired the “dignity” of
the figure. While certainly representing a POW, barefoot,
patched and torn clothing, long hair and beard, he is regal
and defiantly looking home, South. The figure, especially
the face will be nearly 17 feet off the ground and details
such as the circles under the eyes will not be seen. I chose
to show a few tattered areas on the clothing for wear purposes,
not to create a homeless or marooned looking person, he should
have more dignity. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I have
enjoyed sculpting our beleaguered ancestor. I look forward
to returning to Pt. Lookout with the “crowning touch”.
The work you all have put forward in the Park is outstanding
and will not only offer a special insight of our past to
the visitor, but will also correct the wrong by the US Government
of suppressing the flying of the Confederate flag. Good job!
February 25th: The figure will be taken to the mold maker
on Monday Feb. 25, 2008!! I will be in touch and let you
know when it goes to the foundry.
March/April, 2008: The completed, approved clay figure was
delivered to the mold maker in Zanesville, OH late February.
The molds were completed and delivered to the foundry in
Pittsburg, PA early April with the casting process to begin
thereafter.
June 25, 2008: On my way back from the mold maker in Zanesville,
Oh. delivering the Jefferson Davis piece, I am to pick up
from the Matthews Foundry auxiliary building in West VA.
the bronze POW figure on Tuesday July 8th. I will transport
it to the studio and hold it there until you are ready for
installation. As soon as I get it to the studio, I will make
a template of the anchor pin locations and send it to you
for the appropriate holes to be drilled into the concrete
base atop the pedestal. Along with the template, you will
also receive a photo of the piece and the last invoice for
delivery of the statue.
July 9, 2008: I
just returned from the foundry and have the POW bronze
figure in house. I will make the template and send along
with the photos by tomorrow. It looks great! The figure weighs
approximately 250 lbs.
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The private soldier
of the Confederacy had no hope of conspicuous honors, no
opportunity to lay up riches, while meager rations
and scant clothing banished any prospect he may have cherished
for a reasonable amount of the pleasures of army life. The
separation from his home, in many instances, marked the period
when domestic sorrow replaced domestic happiness and absolute
want followed a fair competence. He gave a wonderful exhibition
of courage, constancy and suffering, which no disaster could
diminish, no defeat darken. The soldiers went to battle from
a sense of duty and were not lured into the ranks by bounties
and pensions. If saved from the dangers of the contest, his
reward was the commendation of his immediate commanding officers
and the conscientiousness of duty faithfully performed. If
drowned amid the hail of shot and shell, his hastily buried
body filled a nameless grave, without military honors and
without religious ceremonies. No page of history recounted
in lofty
language his courage on the field or his devotion to his
country, or described how, like a soldier, he fell in the
forefront
of battle. His battle picture, ever near the flashing of
the guns should be framed in the memory of all who admire
true
heroism, whether found at the cannon's mouth, or in the blade
of the cavalry, or along the blazing barrels of the infantry.
There he stood, with the old, torn slouch hat, the bright
eye, the cheek colored by exposure and painted by excitement,
the
face stained with powder, with jacket rent, trousers torn
and the blanket in shreds, printing in the dust of battle
the tracks
of his shoeless feet. No monument can be built high
enough to commemorate the memory of a typical private soldier
of the South. ...."In Memory of the Confederate
Soldier" by Major General Fitzhugh Lee |
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You can help make this part of Confederate Memorial
Park a reality by contributing to this worthwhile
project. All donations are tax deductible. Click here to learn how
you can contribute to Confederate Memorial Park.
In Their Memory
Click here to view a listing of contributors to
CMP: [Individuals] [Organizations]
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