Memorial dedicated to Black Civil War troops of Clark County: ‘They had to fight for equality’

The monument’s unveiling and dedication, originally scheduled for Memorial Day 2020, took place before a large crowd and $20,000 was put toward the project as approved by Paul “Ski” Schanher and Ferncliff’s Board of Directors.

The monument project was initiated by Springfielder Dale Henry, whose great-grandfather, Samuel L. Bryant, is listed on the monument. Bryant was present at General Robert E. Lee’s surrender and was among the last U.S. Colored Troops to be disbanded when Co. A of the 113th U.S. Colored Troops disbanded two years after the war’s end in Brownsville, Texas.

The work on this project began eight years ago, prior to the passing of Henry’s wife.

“My wife got sick, after I presented it [the project], so I dropped everything and took care of her, and after she passed away, I re-presented the idea to the board, and they paid for the whole thing, and I was just amazed. And so we’ve created a really nice partnership in the development of the new monument. The most successful communities are ones that have inclusion and diversity in the main space, and that’s what this is about,” he said.

It is of great significance to be able to preserve this part of history, Henry said.

“It’s important to me from the standpoint that I knew where he came from, I know that he was born a slave and went through the process of joining the Union Army there in Covington, Kentucky, in 1864, and he spent three years in the service, and he was in some of the final battles in the Civil War, and at the actual surrender of General Lee to General Grant,” he said.

From there began his great-grandfather’s journey to Springfield, where he settled with a family of his own.

“After that they sent his regiment down to do guard duty to make it safe for settlement down in Texas. When he received his discharge orders in August of 1867, he came all the way back to Kentucky, and I have a copy of his and my great-grandmother’s marriage license, married around Christmastime in 1870, and they proceeded to have 14 kids, and my grandmother, my mother’s mother, was their youngest one, she was born in 1899, and then they moved up to Springfield in 1900,” Henry said.

Henry said all of those honored “had to fight for more than just their lives. They had to fight for equality and their families and their manhood” — and for the purpose the monument describes: “to bring the end to slavery, to receive full citizenship; and to gain the right to vote.”

Much like the Gammon House, the monument is designed to serve as a reminder to the community of strength in unity.

“It’s an opening to collaboration and relationships to enable people to understand that we as a community can be together, and do things together, to pay respect, and to set a future that shows a togetherness,” said Fern Cliff executive director Darrell Kitchen.

Henry hopes the monument will preserve an important aspect of history for the area.

“The fact that this is something that would be beneficial to the entire community, it’s a special place, and it’s another opportunity for us to celebrate what we have in the history of Springfield and Clark County,” said Henry.