Almost exactly 100 years to the day after the Soldiers and Sailors Confederate Monument was dedicated on Mathews Court Green, approximately 150 people gathered to rededicate the structure.

Last Wednesday’s program was a blending of some of the old with some of the new. While the expected Civil War re-enactors and several others dressed in period attire participated, the program also included the new generation of Mathews youth taking prominent parts.

The Confederate monument was originally dedicated on Sept. 11, 1912, by the Sons of Confederate Veterans Lane-Armistead Camp 1772 and Sally Tompkins Chapter of United Daughters of the Confederacy. Both groups held many fundraising events and received good community support to erect the monument to honor Mathews soldiers and sailors who served the Confederacy during the Civil War.

The monument recognizes the valiant efforts of so many Mathews residents who underwent "untold agony" during the Civil War, said C. Ralph Anderton, ...