Situated at the crossroads of Broadway and Arkansas Street, in the heart of Arkansas County, you'll find the St. Charles Battle Monument. This badass stone slab commemorates the 1862 Battle of St. Charles - a mix of land and sea action during the ol' Civil War. The casualties? 148 Union sailors, all honored on this hulking granite monolith, standing 18 feet like a boss and 9.5 feet square, with an inverted cannon barrel on top, courtesy of the relatives of Union naval hero William Hickman Harte. Yep, this memorial's unique dedication to both sides of the fray is a testament to post-Civil War reconciliation efforts, and it's one of the few such monuments erected in a Confederate state by Northern interests. The monument made its debut in 1919.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Friendly Jane
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