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This project took form in 1888 when the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument Association was formed. Cutshaw, the city engineer, selected Trajan's Column in Rome as the inspiration for the new monument, although he departed significantly from the model in his details. Employing a Roman victory column to memorialize a vanquished army seems an ironic choice. Cutshaw's alignment of the great Corinthian column with the axis of Main Street at the foot of Libby Hill was a gesture typical of the City Beautiful movement. Sheppard picked a local Confederate veteran as his model for the quintessential Confederate soldier perched on the top of the column.