More than 100 people attended the dedication of a historicalmarker to the Brookhaven Light Artillery in Railroad Park Saturdayafternoon.

The marker, located at the intersection of Whitworth Avenue andChickasaw Street, was dedicated to the Confederate Civil War unitformed here early in the war. The unit distinguished itself well inmany major battles of the war and surrendered at the end of thewar, having never been captured.

Roy Wooten, commander of the Brookhaven Light Artillery Chapterof the Sons of Confederate Veterans and an organizer of the event,said it went well.

“Everything went perfect,” he said. “The weather was nice andthe breeze was blowing just strong enough to make the flags standup.”

During the ceremony, men in period uniforms fired a musketsalute and a cannon salute, which “rattled windows throughout thedowntown area.”

Eight different SCV camps, including a few from Louisiana,contributed men in uniform to participate in the ceremony, Wootensaid, and he appreciated their help.

The highlight of the event, however, were speeches bydescendants of the men who served in the unit, he said, and thelaying of the wreaths.

Erica Teal and Matthew Gary, both in period costume anddescendants of BLA veterans, laid a wreath honoring the men. Theywere followed by Johanna Pate, who laid the descendants’wreath.

“We had a lot of descendants there from the men who served andtwo direct descendants of Capt. Hoskins,” Wooten said.

Capt. James A. Hoskins formed the unit in Brookhaven and led itthroughout the war.

Prior to the ceremony, Wooten said the SCV chapter placed twoconcrete benches on the site. They hope to later add a concretecannon of the type used by the unit.

Their next project, however, is the repair and restoration ofthe historical marker at Rosehill Cemetery.

That marker honors 22 unknown Confederates who died at WhitworthCollege while it was serving as a hospital during the war.

“That’s our oldest monument in Brookhaven,” he said.

The monument’s base is separating, Wooten said, and they willhave to remove the obelisk from the monument to repair it. Once thebase is repaired, the obelisk will be placed back on themonument.