Confederate Monument

Bolivar played a significant role in the Civil War or the War Between the States in 1861-1865. Bolivar was occupied by Union forces during much of the war and in May of 1864 the Courthouse and most of the town was burned by the Union forces. The current courthouse was erected shortly after the war in 1868.

More than 3 million Americans fought in the Civil War and over 600,000 men - 2% of the population died in it. Most of these men died on battlefields and often were buried in mass graves never to have a proper funeral or be reunited with their families and friends. It was appropriate then that those valiant soldiers on both sides be honored by their loved ones with memorials in their honor. The chart below shows that the Union created about 422 monuments honoring their Civil War dead and the Confederates created about 487 monuments as well.

What most people do not appreciate is that Bolivar was one of the first communities in the country to erect a monument honoring their Civil War dead; in fact, our monument is one of the first five to have been erected to honor the southern dead in the United States. The Bolivar Bulletin article below published in January 1940 provides a good summary account of this historic event.