New Confederate monument set to be unveiled in Alabama

As cities from New Orleans to Baltimore tear down statues of Confederate generals, a new Confederate monument is slated to be unveiled later this month in Alabama.

The memorial to "unknown Confederate soldiers" is being erected next to an RV Park about 50 miles south of Montgomery in an unincorporated area of Crenshaw County, according to Jimmy Hill, commander of the Alabama division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

"The public's invited. Anyone who wants to can come to celebrate the unveiling of another monument to Confederate soldiers," Hill told AL.com.

The monument will be unveiled at 2 p.m. Aug. 27 during a public ceremony at a Confederate memorial park located next to Dry Creek RV Park at 6403 Brantley Highway - also known as Highway 331 - about three miles north of Brantley.

Dedicated in May 2015 (see video of the dedication ceremony below), the memorial park is open to the public though it is located on private land owned by Luverne resident David Coggins, a Sons of Confederate Veterans member who also operates the RV park. Coggins did not respond to requests for comment.

"He's putting it up [to memorialize] soldiers who came out of Crenshaw County or surrounding counties who never came home," Hill explained.

"He had the marker made over in Georgia for the unknown Confederate soldiers. It won't be as elaborate as the unknown soldier's tomb in Arlington."

Hill said that the date of the unveiling was selected five months ago, though he only posted the event on the website of the Alabama division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans on Sunday.

He said it is a coincidence that the event is scheduled for two weeks after violent clashes erupted when white nationalists descended on Charlottesville, Va., last weekend in part to protest plans to take down a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The Crenshaw County Sheriff's Office did not respond to a request for comment about whether it plans to provide security during the unveiling celebration.

Hill did not provide a physical description or photos of the monument, but he said it is already partially installed.

The memorial park currently features replica cannons, lights, various commemorative markers, a monument to a Confederate unit from Crenshaw County and a 56-foot flag pole that flies the Confederate flag, he said.

"Everything is lit up at night and [Goggins] keeps adding stuff to it. Eventually, he wants to do a reenactment of a battle - a skirmish - that happened there in Crenshaw County," Hill said. "It's been a dream for him to make the park better and better."

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