Claiborne County Confederate Monument

Directly across from the courthouse, in the center of Port Gibson, Mississippi, is this very imposing Confederate Monument, dedicated to the soldiers from Claiborne County who fought to defind their homeland against Northern aggressors during the War Between the States.

Claiborne County was the scene of two important battles of that War. The Battle of Grand Gulf, on the banks of the Mississippi River, was counted as a Confederate victory although it allowed Union General U.S. Grant to move his troops past the fortifications and land them at Bruinsburg. This helped set the stage for the Siege of Vicksburg and the opening of the Mississippi for the invading Union Army. The former town of Grand Gulf is now Grand Gulf Military Park with a museum, historic buildings, hiking trails and an observation tower with an outstanding view of the Mississippi river.

The Battle of Port Gibson started near the A. K. Shaifer house, May 1, 1863. A portion of this battlefield is preserved within the Vicksburg National Military Park.

This site has a special personal significance for me because two of my great great uncles, Sargent James Monroe Devaughn and his younger brother, Private John Allen Devaughn, successfully fought against the invading Northern army at Port Gibson. Both of them, members of the Alabama 46th Infantry, Company A, were captured a few weeks later, July 4, 1863, at the surrender of Vicksburg.

According to Confederate war records, the Devaughn brothers were exchanged and furloughed less than three weeks later, on July 22. However both returned to the front lines of battle in defending their Southern homeland. John died about six weeks later. James lived for another year, and was killed at the hand of General Sherman's brutal troops at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia, on the northern outskirts of Atlanta, on June 30, 1864.

I had other kinfolk on both sides of my family who fought and died for the Confederacy. All told, more than 620,000 men, women and children were needlessly slaughtered in the War Between the States - to say nothing of the wanton destruction of homes, churches, schools and the entire infrastructure of the South.

Contrary to popular misconception, The War was not about slavery. No serious historian believes that - yet it remains the politically correct "excuse" given after-the-fact by the victors (the North) in an effort to justify the most senseless and shameful chapter in American history.

My uncles were poor dirt farmers who never owned a slave. They fought, as did virtually all Confederates, for only one reason. Their homeland was invaded and they were compelled by honor to defend their homes and their families.

Most people - especially Americans - would be extremely enlightened to study The War from a Southern perspective. Check out my Confederate blog: http://confederatedigest.com/