Cleburne and the statue
On Nov. 25, 1863, Cleburne used the Ringgold Depot as an anchor to conceal men and cannons, waiting for Union troops. He was charged with the task of holding off approaching Union troops so the Confederates could safely withdraw.
When the line arrived, the Confederate troops fired on them until their retreat. Cleburne then moved his troops to his flanks and stalled the advance of Union troops with 4,100 men versus 12,000.
“This event will put Ringgold on the map,” said Stephen McKinney, a civil war historian and event coordinator.
Cartwright said Cleburne was one of the “few ‘true’ heroes of all time.”
“I believe the most important day of (Cleburne’s) life was on the Battle of Ringgold Gap,” Cartwright said.
This celebration took place less than an hour from my home…from dowtown Atlanta, where we are planting a multi-cultural, racial reconciliation seeking church, Renovation.
This statue unveiling for them was a joyous occasion, celebrating the South’s “stand” against the aggression of the North in trying to alter their “way of life.” To me, and many others this celebration represents the ignorance of a people holding on to a time that I am fighting to dissolve the remnants of through the gospel.
Though you wouldn’t think so, what happens here, an hour from my home, affects everything we do downtown because of how it influences the thoughts, lives, and actions of those downtown in fueling seeds of deep hurt and resentment already present. It is also necessary to consider the children of the individuals who participated in this celebration who now live in the city, and bring with them the roots of this mentality.
All this to say that as a pastor, it is not only your context to consider in how and who to engage with the gospel, but also the context around you and possibly oppressive and divisive forces inherent within them.
