The fact that Congress recognized them in 1958
IN 1958 as veterans for the sole purpose of awarding pensions to veterans and their widows does not change history. It was done not only nearly a century after the surrender, but was only done for the limited purpose of awarding pensions by conferring status for that purpose. There is not a whisper of the word "pardon" in the statute and it certainly doesn't make them the same as veterans of the United States (for anything but a limited purpose).
Further, these statues were almost all built well before the 1958 statute was passed. Federal law does not protect Confederate monuments or the graves of Confederate soldiers.
These men were traitors to their country and they
lost the war. It is pretty typical for winners of wars to tear down the monuments of their enemies the moment they are able to do so.
For example...
I think a good argument can be made that these things need to be preserved and kept somewhere for historical purposes. But they don't belong in the public square. There's no good argument for that.
Hell.. there are a few of these things in my State and Oklahoma wasn't even a state in the Civil War although the last Confederate General to surrender was Stand Watie, who not coincidentally owned hundreds of slaves.
