Lloyd Tilghman Memorial
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Lloyd Tilghman
Lloyd Tilghman was a railroad construction engineer and a Confederate general in the American Civil War, killed at the Battle of Champion Hill...
, a brigadier general for the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
who died at the Battle of Champion Hill
Battle of Champion Hill
The Battle of Champion Hill, or Bakers Creek, fought May 16, 1863, was the pivotal battle in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Union commander Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Tennessee pursued the retreating Confederate Lt. Gen. John C...
in May 1863.
Lloyd Tilghman was a native of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
that lived in Paducah from 1852-1861. joined the Confederate army on July 5, 1861 as a colonel, but was promoted to general the next October. He was placed in charge of the engineering of Fort Henry
Battle of Fort Henry
The Battle of Fort Henry was fought on February 6, 1862, in western Tennessee, during the American Civil War. It was the first important victory for the Union and Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the Western Theater....
and Fort Donelson
Battle of Fort Donelson
The Battle of Fort Donelson was fought from February 11 to February 16, 1862, in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The capture of the fort by Union forces opened the Cumberland River as an avenue for the invasion of the South. The success elevated Brig. Gen. Ulysses S...
, succeeding another general, but was unable to stop the building of the militarily deficient Henry until too late. He was captured at the Battle of Fort Henry, and would not return to duty until the next Fall, which led to his death during the Vicksburg Campaign
Vicksburg Campaign
The Vicksburg Campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River. The Union Army of the Tennessee under Maj. Gen....
.
In 1909 it was decided to honor Tilghman. Tilghman's sons Frederick and Sidell and the United Daughters of the Confederacy
United Daughters of the Confederacy
The United Daughters of the Confederacy is a women's heritage association dedicated to honoring the memory of those who served in the military and died in service to the Confederate States of America . UDC began as the National Association of the Daughters of the Confederacy, organized in 1894 by...
jointly paid for the building of the monument, with the brothers paying $10,000 and the UDC paying $5,000.
The statue was made by Henry Hudson Kitson
Henry Hudson Kitson
Sir Henry Hudson Kitson, often known as H. H. Kitson, American sculptor, born in Huddersfield, England on April 9, 1865 and died at Tyringham, Massachusetts, on June 26, 1947...
, then a resident of Boston, Massachusetts who immigrated from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The statue depicting Tilghman is made of bronze, and is on top of a pink granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
pedestal and base. The total height is twelve feet. The two bases are perfect squares of seventeen feet and 25 feet. The historical marker at the site was placed there by the Augusta Tilghman High School
Paducah Tilghman High School
Paducah Tilghman High School is a public secondary school in Paducah, Kentucky, and is the only high school of the Paducah Independent School District....
class of 1929.
On July 17, 1997, it was one of sixty-one different monuments to the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
in Kentucky placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission. One other monument on the list, the Confederate Monument in Paducah
Confederate Monument in Paducah
The Confederate Monument in Paducah, located northwest of downtown Paducah, Kentucky is a historic monument located in Paducah's Oak Grove Cemetery.It was built in 1907 on behalf of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It is a granite obelisk...
, is nearby. Tilghman's home in Paducah
Lloyd Tilghman House
The Lloyd Tilghman House is an historic home located in downtown Paducah, Kentucky. It is also known as the Tilghman-Woolfolk House and the Lloyd Tilghman House and Civil War Museum.-Early years:...
is also on the National Register, and currently serves as a museum.