February 20, 2026
Paul Magid, blueandgrayeducation.org

Dedication of Martha's Vineyard's Confederate statue in 1891 | courtesy of the author

For decades after Appomattox, lingering hostility between Northerners and Southerners divided the nation. Charles Strahan, a Confederate veteran living in the North, decided to do something about it.

Born in Maryland, Strahan enlisted as a private in the Confederate cause. He served throughout the war, was wounded at the Battle of Fair Oaks (Virginia), received a commission as a second lieutenant, and fought at Gettysburg as an aide to General Isaac Trimble.

After Appomattox, Strahan launched a coffee-importing business in New Orleans. In 1884, however, declining health forced his retirement. For reasons unknown, he then moved his family north to Cottage City—now Oak Bluffs—on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. There, he purchased a newspaper, which he named the Martha’s Vineyard Herald. Although the paper flourished under his management, he found many of the island’s residents, particularly Union veterans, resented his Confederate military service. That experience instilled in him the desire to promote the reconciliation of the two old foes.

To further that aim, Strahan joined the local chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). But when he proposed participating in a Memorial Day celebration honoring Union veterans, the idea met with such virulent opposition that he did not attend.

Undeterred, four years later, Strahan used his newspaper as a platform to launch a fundraising campaign for a monument honoring Union soldiers. In 1891, he called for reconciliation, not to “dim the glory of the Confederate soldier,” he said, but to assuage “the lingering prejudices engendered by the war.”

The "Chasm is Closed" plaque | courtesy of author

His speech generated enthusiasm for the construction of the monument, and by midsummer, he had raised $1,500 of the needed $2,000. Strahan appears to have donated the remaining $500 himself, because just a month later, most of Cottage City gathered to dedicate the completed statue. Before them stood a seven-foot-tall Union soldier cast in zinc, identifiable by the “U.S.” on his belt buckle and cartridge box, his rifle resting in his hands.

Four plaques were placed at the statue’s base. One read, “Erected in Honor of the Grand Army of the Republic.” Two others bore, respectively, the name of the GAR post commander and the initials of the foundry that cast the statue. The fourth plaque was deliberately left blank.

At the unveiling, Strahan called the monument a symbol of peace and of the common soldier of the Grand Army of the Republic who fought and suffered to preserve the Union. Speaking as a former Confederate, he declared, “There is 

no North nor South … but one undivided, indivisible Union.“ It was a noble sentiment, but one he knew was not yet widely shared among Union veterans. For that reason, he had left the fourth plaque empty, hoping, as he later wrote in an editorial, that “some future date” might allow it to bear “a token of respect for … old foes in the field.” 

At last, in 1925, the aged Confederate’s dream was realized. The fourth, blank, plaque was replaced with one reading: “‘The Chasm is Closed.’ In memory of the Restored Union, this Tablet is Dedicated … In Honor of the Confederate Soldiers.” Strahan died in 1931, secure in his belief that his efforts had been rewarded.

In 2001, the statue was refurbished and rededicated without controversy. But public attitudes change, and hostilities between North and South were replaced by divisiveness around the issue of racial justice. In 2019, the local chapter of the NAACP raised the issue with the town, pointing out that honoring Confederate soldiers was hurtful to many African Americans. Their argument prevailed, and the plaque was removed and placed in the local museum. 

Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans | public domain

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The Blue and Gray Education Society is a non-profit 501-3C educational organization. Please visit us at www.blueandgrayeducation.org.

Blue and Gray Education Society is a not-for-profit educational organization chartered to educate, provide tours, lectures, interpretive markers and support for historic sites, and promote historical dialogue. This article was submitted without renumeration, and while we respect the academic freedom of the author, the views of the author do not necessarily represent the views or position of the Blue and Gray Education Society, its volunteers, directors, or staff.