[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 34 (Thursday, March 4, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2340-S2342]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

       100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VICKSBURG NATIONAL MILITARY PARK

 Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I bring to the attention of the 
Senate the recent celebration of a special anniversary of one of our 
finest national treasures and most historic sites--the Vicksburg 
National Military Park.
  On February 20, 1999, ceremonies were held at the Vicksburg National 
Military Park in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to commemorate the 100th 
anniversary of the establishment of the park. The statues of the first 
two superintendents of the park, Stephen D. Lee and William T. Rigby, 
were rededicated with several of their descendants in attendance.
  This park was the seventh National Park established, and is the site 
of the campaign and siege of Vicksburg. On February 21, 1899, President 
William McKinley signed the legislation which created the park. 
Although originally envisioned to include 4,000 acres, today the park 
is comprised of over 1,800 acres with 1,324 monuments, markers and 
tablets. There are twenty-seven state monuments. In July of this year, 
the Kentucky monument will be dedicated.
  The U.S.S. Cairo, a Civil War gunboat, which was sunk by Confederate 
mines just North of Vicksburg on the Yazoo River on December 12, 1862, 
was raised in 1964 and is displayed at the park as one of the best-
preserved Vessels of its type.

[[Page S2341]]

  The park is also the home of Vicksburg National Cemetery, established 
in 1866. Interred on the grounds are over 18,000 Union soldiers, of 
which the identities of 12,000 are unknown. Veterans of the Mexican, 
and Spanish-American Wars, World War I and II, and the Korean conflict 
also rest in the cemetery.
  Over the past few years, the Senate has supported funding for the 
construction of a canopy to protect the U.S.S. Cairo, for the 
restoration of monuments at the Park which have deteriorated, and for 
the acquisition of parcels of land that are valuable for the 
preservation and interpretation of the campaign and siege of Vicksburg.
  I hope Senators will be mindful of the valuable national assets at 
the Vicksburg National Military Park as the Senate considers funding 
for the National Park Service in the coming months.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the remarks delivered by 
Park Superintendent, William Nichols, and Historian, Terrence Winschel, 
at the re-dedication of the Lee and Rigby monuments be inserted in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                    Remarks of Terrence J. Winschel

       On the hot afternoon of May 22, 1863, General Lee watched 
     in awe as Union troops poured out a ravine 400 yards east of 
     here and deployed into line of battle on a ridge opposite his 
     lines. One Confederate soldier who gazed over the parapets of 
     earth and log recorded for posterity that the Federals 
     deployed into line of battle with man touching man, rank 
     pressing rank, and line supporting line. He could see Union 
     officers riding up and down the lines giving encouragement to 
     their men, making sure that all was set for the advance. He 
     watched as the colors were uncased and caught the breeze 
     above the lines, and listened to the sound of cold steel as 
     the enemy affixed their bayonets in final preparation for the 
     charge. To him the sight was grim, irresistible, yet 
     magnificent in the extreme this pageantry of war.
       But there was little time for admiration as the blue lines 
     swept across the fields. With a mighty cheer the Federals 
     swarmed up the slopes and into the ditches fronting the 
     Vicksburg defenses. Planting several stands of colors atop 
     the Confederate fortifications, a handful of Union troops 
     entered Railroad Redoubt before you--the city's defenses had 
     been pierced.
       With calm determination, Stephen D. Lee rode to the point 
     of danger. Exhorting his men to stand their ground in the 
     face of overwhelming numbers, he gathered reinforcements in 
     hand and led the counterattack which drove the Federals back 
     and sealed the breach. It was the most sublime moment of his 
     distinguished military career.
       Thirty-six years later, this grand soldier of the 
     Confederacy was named Chairman of the Vicksburg National 
     Military Park Commission. He had worked tirelessly by example 
     in the post war era to take Yankees and Rebels and make them 
     Americans. Now he would forge from this bloody field of 
     battle an eternal monument commemorating American valor to 
     remind the generations that would follow of the sacrifices 
     made on their behalf by the men in blue and gray.
       In recognition of Lee's life of service to his nation and 
     the American people, his fellow commissioner William T. Rigby 
     sought to erect and dedicate within the general's lifetime a 
     monument of bronze on the grounds of this battlefield which 
     he made a shrine. Without Lee's knowledge, Rigby solicited 
     contributions making himself the first donation.
       In May 1908, veterans of the 22d Iowa Infantry, the very 
     unit which pierced the lines at Railroad Redoubt, assembled 
     in Vicksburg for a reunion and invited General Lee to attend. 
     Although his health was broken, Lee came to Vicksburg and 
     praised his former enemies for their courage and bravery 
     exhibited on that bloody day. Captain Rigby took advantage of 
     Lee's visit and asked the general to pose for a photograph on 
     the spot from which he watched the charge. Lee came to this 
     very place, stood erect with the posture of a soldier, and 
     with his head turned slightly to the north, the fire of 
     younger days returned to his eyes for the final time. Four 
     days later, he died in Vicksburg, a place with which his name 
     is synonymous.
       The photograph taken that day was the basis for this 
     monument which was dedicated on June 11, 1909. It reminds us 
     today of courage, duty, honor, and stands as an enduring 
     symbol of the love and respect that former enemies had for 
     men turned brothers.
                                  ____


        Remarks of William O. Nichols on Capt. William T. Rigby

       We are gathered here before the statue of Captain William 
     T. Rigby, the second person to serve as chairman of the Park 
     Commission. In this capacity, Captain Rigby served from 1901 
     until 1929. . . . Obviously, these were the formative years 
     for the development of this park. It was Captain William 
     Rigby who designed and shaped and molded this park into what 
     we see and what we have here today. Captain Rigby truly was 
     and is the father of this great park.
       We are delighted to have with us today the granddaughter of 
     Captain Rigby. . . . Isabel Rigby . . . who is 86 years young 
     . . . and who is joining us after just having returned to the 
     United States from a week trip abroad to the Union of South 
     Africa. Park historian Terry Winschel will be next on the 
     program following and he will be followed by Miss Rigby.
       William Titus Rigby was a native of Red Oak, Iowa. He was 
     only 21 when he enlisted in the Union Army. He was a man of 
     integrity, honesty and decency, and these qualities soon 
     earned him a commission as a second lieutenant. He was later 
     promoted to the rank of captain and it was in that capacity 
     that he served for the balance of the war.
       After the war, William Rigby returned to his native Iowa 
     and entered Cornell College from which he graduated in 1869. 
     That same year he married Eva Cattron. They enjoyed sixty 
     years of marriage and raised three children: Will, Charlie 
     and Grace. Isabel Rigby who is with us today is the daughter 
     of Charlie.
       During the time he was in the trenches around Vicksburg in 
     1863 William Rigby certainly could not have ever imagined 
     that some thirty years later he would return to lead the 
     effort to establish a national military park. In 1895 he was 
     elected secretary of the Vicksburg National Military Park 
     Association and for the next four years he travelled across 
     the nation speaking to veterans' groups, legislators and 
     members of Congress to generate support for the park measure. 
     His efforts and those of General Lee were ultimately 
     successful when the legislation was passed by Congress and 
     signed into law by President William McKinley on February 21, 
     1899.
       The park legislation created a three-man commission to 
     oversee the development and management of the park. All three 
     had to be veterans of the Vicksburg campaign, one had to be a 
     Confederate representative and two were to be Union. General 
     Lee of course was the logical choice to be named the 
     Confederate representative. As Illinois had the largest 
     number of troops engaged in the Vicksburg campaign, James 
     Everest from that State was selected as the second 
     commissioner. Despite all his work on behalf of the 
     association to establish the park, partisan politics reared 
     its ugly head and almost resulted in Captain Rigby not being 
     selected as the third commissioner. But--those who had worked 
     with him now raised such a hue and cry that Secretary Alger 
     ultimately capitulated and named him the third commissioner.
       Captain Rigby was the only one of the three commissioners 
     who actually moved to Vicksburg. He established his residence 
     and a park office here and subsequently became known as the 
     resident commissioner, busying himself with the acquisition 
     of land, the construction of the tour road and bridges, 
     placing tablets and securing the impressive monuments for 
     which this park is rightly noted. He devoted the last thirty 
     years of his life to make Vicksburg National Military Park 
     the finest in the world. More than any other man, our park 
     today is the result of Captain William Rigby's labors.
       Perhaps the greatest testimony to William Rigby's service 
     can be found in the letter of resignation written to him by 
     General Lee on November 21, 1901. General Lee's letter reads 
     as follows:
       ``I felt at the time when Colonel Everest and yourself--by 
     your votes--made me your chairman that it was an act of 
     delicate courtesy extended to me by former antagonists. But, 
     now, dear friend: From the very inception of the park 
     movement, you have been the most active and industrious 
     person connected with the enterprise. You have done more work 
     and put more thought on the great enterprise than any other 
     member or person connected with the park. From this fact I 
     have never failed to agree with you in almost every 
     suggestion or act connected with your management, and I 
     really feel from our association and work you are now the 
     most competent member to be the permanent chairman of the 
     commission. I therefore tender to you my resignation as 
     chairman of the commission and request that you assume all 
     the duties of the office as permanent chairman.''
                                  ____


        Remarks of William O. Nichols on Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee

       Welcome. I am Park Supt Bill Nichols. We are gathered here 
     this day to pay homage to two gentlemen who played a 
     prominent role in making Vicksburg National Military Park the 
     beautiful and significant site that it is today. In this 
     park's 100 year history, there have been only twelve persons 
     who served as its superintendent. These two gentlemen we 
     honor today were this park's first superintendents (although 
     they didn't have that title, that is in fact what they were). 
     I personally have a feeling of great empathy for these two 
     men: for the responsibilities they bore, for the actions they 
     took, the examples they set for the 10 superintendents who 
     followed them . . . . For what they did during the critical 
     formative years to mold this park into the great memorial it 
     is today.
       We are here at the monument to General Stephen D. Lee. 
     Stephen Dill Lee was a graduate of the United States Military 
     Academy at West Point who served his nation faithfully until 
     the outbreak of the Civil War. With the secession of his 
     native South served the confederacy with his customary skill, 
     rising to become the youngest lieutenant general in the 
     Confederate Service. Following the war, he worked tirelessly 
     to unite

[[Page S2342]]

     the people of the Nation, to rebuild the South, and to care 
     for Confederate veterans. His was a life of service to 
     others, but perhaps his most lasting contribution was the 
     establishment and development of this park.
       The support of Confederate veterans was essential to secure 
     passage of legislation to establish a park at Vicksburg. 
     After all, the loss of Vicksburg was a stunning defeat to the 
     Confederacy. Supporters of the park idea found the ally they 
     needed in the person of General Lee who was highly respected 
     throughout the State and the Nation. In October of 1895 when 
     Union and Confederate veterans banded together to form the 
     Vicksburg National Military Park Association, it was Stephen 
     D. Lee who was the unanimous selection to be its president. 
     He was the instrumental person in this movement which was 
     culminated on February 21st, 1899, when the legislation was 
     signed into law by President William McKinley establishing 
     the park. General Lee was appointed to be the Confederate 
     representative on the three-man commission established to run 
     the park.
       And Lee was immediately elected as chairman, thus becoming 
     the park's first superintendent. Although General Lee 
     remained in Columbus, he supported the Resident Commissioner 
     William Rigby and thus his influence remains every where to 
     see.
       In November 1901, the pressures of time became too much for 
     him and he resigned his chairmanship--but he continued on the 
     park commission until his death in 1908. His last act of life 
     was to attend a reunion of union veterans, the very troops 
     who penetrated Lee's lines here at Vicksburg at the Railroad 
     Redoubt. In the Spirit of national unity he praised his 
     former enemies for their bravery and their devotion to duty . 
     . . four days later he died here in Vicksburg and was laid in 
     state in the park office where men in Blue and Gray again 
     gathered to mourn the loss of a great American.
       We have with us today descendants of General Lee--whom I 
     would like to recognize. They are: great-grandson Hamilton 
     Lee. He has with him his daughter, Avery. Next, another great 
     grandson, Terry Batcheldor and his wife Ginny. Next, there is 
     a great-great-grandson Stephen Lee. And last but certainly 
     not least, great-great-great-grandson David Langstaff, who is 
     accompanied by his three children, Meridith, Chris and Todd.
       We are delighted that these members of the Stephen D. Lee 
     family are with us today to participate in this ceremony to 
     remember their ancestor who made such a significant 
     contribution to the development of this national 
     park.

                          ____________________