The Museum of the Confederacy

The Museum of the Confederacy, placed adjacent to the VCU hospital, is a quiet, three floor, three exhibit, and unfortunately run-down building in downtown Richmond. After taking note of the lack of aesthetic appeal and serious absence of interactive opportunities for the visitor, I decided it would be best to focus on the museum’s main exhibit, titled “The Confederate Years: the Southern military in the Civil War” which claimed to be a year by year introduction to confederate military history.

The exhibit begins with two posters of text with the questions “Why secession? Why war?” and “Why did they fight?” It is clear the curators want to clear the air about what ignited the civil war and the creation of the confederacy, something debated and intensely discussed in the historical community. The answers written below these questions tend to lead the visitors to believe that the South had no other choice but to take action. Also, the answers tend to stray from the dispute over slavery.

“While the political and constitutional struggle over slavery caused the breakup of the Union, the men who filled the ranks of the Confederacy’s armies rushed to the colors for reasons not related directly to slavery...[they] were fighting for the rights and liberties that their forefathers had won in the first American Revolution.”

This claim exonerates the soldiers. They are no longer represented as fighting for what is seen today as an inhumane and prejudicial practice. This characterization of the soldiers sets the stage for the remaining parts of the exhibit, which memorialize, celebrate, and sanctify the generals and commanders of the Confederate military.

The following room involves a wall with the portrait, name and accomplishment of the generals and commanders. The information includes date of birth, education, and important battles fought. If he had died during battle, the description would mention his heroic contribution to the struggle against the north. There are many artifacts belonging to these men placed in cases, organized by battle chronologically. Uniforms, flags, drums, guns, binoculars, swords, saddles, horns, and even compasses are labeled with which soldier each item belonged to. By glorifying these items, which are typical of truly any military during that era, the men become celebrities. The exhibit expects the viewer to be enamored by such a simple object due to its owner. This is especially evident in the case dedicated to Robert E. Lee’s camp.

This particular display covered an entire wall in one of the rooms, making it one of the major focal points of the exhibit. The description claims that all of the items belonged to Lee and noted that for such a prominent commander, his living quarters were quite simple.

“Robert E. Lee was very conscious about living better than his men.”

Lee is not only depicted as one of the most important commanders, but he is also characterized as a man of integrity and compassion.

            Aside from the characterization of the generals and commanders, the cases representing each battle have two noteworthy aspects, their size and their description. There is a continuing theme in the description of the Confederacy’s lost battles. The majority of the text describing the event focuses on bad weather conditions, a surprise attack, a lack of man power or other excuses and finally two or three sentences about the outcome. For the visitor, who is likely interested in whether the battle was won or lost, the process of reading drawn out introductions can be overwhelming and unnecessary.

            The different sizes of the cases are very telling of the exhibit’s purpose to celebrate Confederate battles won rather than those lost. An extremely small case set in the corner of a room describes the Confederate defeat at Fort Donelson.

“The defeat resulted in the greatest loss of territory that the confederacy suffered in the war.”

This case could easily be overlooked by many museum goers, suggesting the possibility that the purpose of the exhibit would not be to give equal historical accounts of all battles but to downplay major losses. A second example of this could be the Fall of Richmond exhibit, also in a smaller case than others and set in the corner of the room.

In contrast to the Fort Donelson and Fall of Richmond displays is the extremely large case about the Confederate Calvary.

“Although the claim that southerners were better horsemen and marksmen seems like a sectional stereotype, modern historians affirm that Confederate Calvary was distinctly superior.”

The magnitude of the case in comparison to others coupled with the claim of the Calvary’s superiority are evidence of the exhibit’s main focus on Confederate successes.

            Finally, the last case in the exhibit is about Jefferson Davis and his family’s capture. Rather than ending with the last battle, which would seem most appropriate considering all previous cases had been filled with military content, the final case made the exhibits last attempt to praise the Confederate army and cast it in the shadow of success, regardless of a loss the audience knows to be inevitable.

“The Confederacy’s survival depended on its armies, but the collapse of the Confederate government made further military resistance pointless.”

This quote, reflecting the beginning claim that the men were fighting for more than slavery, exonerates the soldiers in a different way. It takes the blame for the Confederacy’s loss off of the shoulders of the military and puts it on the government. Depicted in the case is a cartoon of Jefferson Davis who was rumored to be wearing his wife’s petticoats when captured, he museum description calls them “slanderous cartoons,” and a statement above it from an eyewitness stating that the rumor was false.

Although the purpose of the exhibit claims to be to be a year by year introduction to the Confederate military history, the exhibit speaks too loudly towards the military successes and too quietly towards the defeats, leaving the visitor feeling sorry for the museum’s attempt to glorify the Confederate army rather than offer a history.