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Marjorie Taylor Greene’s tribute to Confederate soldiers hilariously backfires

The Wilder Monument pays tribute to a brigade that beat back the Confederacy

Eric Garcia
Thursday 20 October 2022 16:51 BST
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Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene posted an image of herself intended to defend monuments to the Confederacy, but the lawmaker inadvertantly highlighted a monument paying tribute to the Union, The Daily Beastreported.

The Republican firebrand posted an image of herself at the the Wilder Monument in Chickamuaga, Georgia on Truth Social, former president Donald Trump’s media platform he created after Twitter banned him.

“Tonight, I stopped at the Wilder Monument in Chickamuaga, GA, which honors the soldiers of the Wilder Brigade,” she said. “I will always defend our nation’s history!” Initially, The Daily Beast reported, the post said it was meant to honor “Confederate soldiers.”

But the Wilder Brigade fought for the Union. Colonel John T Wilder and led a brigade with wild horses from the Tennessee countryside and turned his brigade into an armed infantry with the seven-shot Spencer repeating rifle, according to Iron Brigadier.

On 18 September 1863, the brigade saved the Union Army when it helped stave off the Confederate army at Alexander’s Bridge, according to the Indiana government’s website. Two days later, the Lightning Brigade, as it was known, repelled the charges of the Confederate Army’s divison and counter-attacked the South.

(Truth Social/Marjorie Taylor Greene)

As a result, Gen George H Thomas built the rock-like stand now known as The Rock of Chicamauga which was used to save the army.

Republicans in recent years have opposed attempts to remove monuments honouring the Confederacy as well as prominent slaveholders and white supremacists, with Ms Greene being one of the most outspoken figures in this effort.

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