Augusta Confederate Monument The Augusta Confederate Monument also known as the Richmond County Confederate Monument is located in the median of the 700 block of Broad Street in downtown Augusta , Georgia . This Confederate monument soars seventy - six feet into the sky , set on a granite base topped by a shaft of Carrara marble . The monument was commissioned by the Ladies Memorial Association of Augusta as a memorial in 1875 . It was designed by the architectural firm of VanGruder and Young of Philadelphia , built by the Markwalter firm of Augusta , carved by Antonio Fontana and dedicated on October 32 , 1878 . Around the base of the monument are the life size statues of four Southern generals in the American Civil War : Thomas R . R . Cobb , Stonewall Jackson , Robert E . Lee , and William H . T . Walker . Interestingly , the enlisted Confederate soldier depicted above the generals is the civil war hero Sergeant Berry Benson . Known , among other things , as never having surrendered his weapon at Appomattox with General Lee . An inscription at the base reads , “ In honor of the men of Richmond County who died in the cause of the Confederate States . ” Other Inscriptions . " Worthy to have lived and known our gratitude < br > " Worthy to be hallowed and held < br > " In tender remembrance < br > " Worthy the fadless fame which < br > " Confederate soldiers won < br > " Who gave themselves in life < br > " And death for us < br > " For the honor of Georgia < br > " For the rights of the States < br > " For the liberties of the South < br > " For the principles of the Union , as these were handed down to them , < br > " By the fathers of our common Country . < br > " No nation rose so white and fair , " None fell so pure of crime . " " Our Confederate Dead " < br > " Erected A . D . 1878 < br > " " by the Memorial Association of Augusta , < br > " " In honor of the men of Richmond County , < br > " " Who died in the cause of the Confederate States . " < br > Berry Benson . Known locally as " “ the man on the monument , ” " Berry Greenwood Benson was a legend of his time . His likeness , representing the numerous enlisted soldiers that served during the Civil War , was the model for the statue atop the Augusta Confederate monument . A number of books have been written about his exploits and societal contributions during and after the civil war . Born in 1843 in neighboring Hamburg , South Carolina ; Benson was an adventurous young man , heading west to try his luck during the California gold rush and not finding it there , he moved back to Greenville , South Carolina . This move put Benson into the debate of secession – the main topic of the early 1860s . When South Carolina seceded , Benson joined the Hamburg Minutemen , who mustered with the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Regiment in Charleston . Helping during the bombardment of Fort Sumter , he witnessed the surrender of the Union fort in April 1861 . Berry Benson re - enlisted after his six - month tour end and saw a lot of action during the war . His regiment was part of the Virginia Campaign , joining General A . P . Hill ’ s Light Division and General Stonewall Jackson ’ s army . He was badly wounded in one of his legs which send him home to recuperate . During his recuperation in Augusta , he met his future bride , Jeannie Oliver . In 1864 , Benson rejoined Robert E . Lee ’ s Army of Northern Virginia . He fought around Richmond and at Spotsylvania against General Grant ’ s army . He was captured while scouting enemy positions and sent to a Point Lookout in Maryland . Benson escaped by swimming two miles through the waters of the Chesapeake Bay . He was captured again by Union forces in Virginia and sent to Washington , D . C . and later to a military prison in Elmira , New York . Once again , Benson escaped and made his way back to his regiment . As the war was coming to an end , Benson decided not to surrender with Lee at Appomattox and returned to Augusta with his rifle , never surrendering . In 1875 , when The Ladies Memorial Association honored the Confederate soldiers of Richmond County with a war memorial , Berry Benson was chosen as the model for the enlisted soldier atop their monument . Benson lived until 1923 , actively serving his community . He is buried at Sunset Hill Cemetery in North Augusta , South Carolina .