Cleburn Statue to be Erected in Georgia

CAMERON McWHIRTER / cmcwhirter@ajc.com

The Patrick Cleburne statue will be placed in in Ringgold Gap.

The statue almost was not finished because for years organizers couldn’t scratch up the money to pay the sculptor. When it’s put on display next year, this North Georgia community of 2,500 will see whether the $120,000 price tag was worth it.

With the Civil War’s 150th anniversary in 2011, communities across the South are planning gatherings and spiffing up battlefields in hopes of drawing tourist dollars. Between Chattanooga and Atlanta, towns where blue and gray fought are trying to build things for people to see besides reading roadside markers. Ringgold is banking on one of the few new statues to a Confederate being built anywhere and a festival next fall to unveil it. In this little town, the Army of Tennessee general won his greatest victory.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/12/28/Cleburne_statue_ringgold.html