I don’t know about this `racists who fought a war over owning slaves “had a sense of shame” and “didn’t want to be remembered for their part in the most destructive and pointless war” take.

When they eventually did build statues, they imported them from the north. They didn’t build them in their lifetime because it wasn’t a popular thing to do, and as such they literally didn’t have the skills or foundries to make them. Not to mention they were actually fighting a war, not sitting in their bunkers ordering air strikes.