Confederate Memorial, (sculpture).

Confederate Memorial, (sculpture).

Ezekiel, Moses Jacob, Sir, 1844-1917, sculptor.

H. Gladenbeck & Sohn, founder.

Confederate Memorial, (sculpture).

Confederate Monument, (sculpture).

Soldiers of the South, (sculpture).

1912. Dedicated June 14, 1914. Removed December 2023.

Digital Reference:

Monument: bronze and Woodstock granite; Base: Woodstock granite.

Monument: approx. 32 x 17 x 15.5 ft.; Base: approx. 3 ft. x 27 ft. 8 in. x 27 ft. 8 in.

M. EZEKIEL - SCULPTOR ROME MCMXII (Northeast corner of monument:) MADE BY/ATKIEN-GESELLSCHAFT GLADENBECK/BRUNZE FOUNDERY/BERLIN-FRIEDRICHSHAGEN. GERMANY (Around the monument, about two-thirds of the way up, raised:) -AND-THEY-SHALL-BEAT-THEIR-SWORDS-INTO-PLOUGH-SHARES-AND-THEIR-SPEARS-INTO-PRUNING-HOOKS.-/ (On shields of each Southern state around monument, above frieze:) MISSOURI/COMMONWEALTH/TEXAS/VIRGINIA/ARKANSAS/N. CAROLINA/TENNESSEE/S. CAROLINA/MISSISSIPPI/ALABAMA/FLORIDA/STATE OF GEORGIA/UNION JUSTICE/(and a seal with a Latin inscription) (On north side of monument, below frieze, raised:) -NOT-FOR-FAME-OR-REWARD-/-NOT-FOR-PLACE-OR-FOR-RANK-/-NOT-LURED-BY-AMBITION-/-OR-GOADED-BY-NECESSITY-/-BUT-IN-SIMPLE-/-OBEDIENCE-TO-DUTY-/-AS-THEY-UNDERSTOOD-IT-/-THESE-MEN-SUFFERED-ALL-/-SACRIFICED-ALL-/-DARED-ALL--AND-DIED-/RANDOLPH HARRISON MCKIM (On south side of monument, below frieze, raised:) -TO-/-OUR-DEAD-HEROES-/-BY-/-THE-UNITED-DAUGHTERS-/-OF-THE-CONFEDERACY-/-VICTRIX-CAUSA-DIIS-PLACUIT-/-SED-VICTA-CATONI- signed Founder's mark appears.

"The...richly modeled monument is crowned with a heroic-sized woman, symbolic of Peace, facing the South. Crowned with a wreath of olive leaves, she holds a laurel wreath, a plow stock, and a pruning hook....A vigorous high-relief, circular frieze in bronze is located around the center of the shaft and shows thirty-two life-size figures of Southern civilians bidding farewell to Confederate soldiers leaving for the war. Their sad return from the conflict is recorded in the center part of the frieze. Above the frieze...are carved in granite the seals of the Southern states."

History -- United States -- Civil War

Allegory -- Civic -- Peace

Figure female -- Full length

Dress -- Historic -- Classical Dress

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

Object -- Foliage -- Laurel

Object -- Foliage -- Olive Branch

Object -- Tool -- Plow

Administered by United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, District of Columbia

Formerly located Arlington National Cemetery, Jackson Circle, Arlington, Virginia until December 2023.

Monument to Confederate dead, erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, with the permission of President William Howard Taft, marks the burial site of 400 Confederate soldiers who died in action near Washington. The sculptor of the monument, Moses Ezekiel, was himself a Confederate veteran. Dr. Randolph Harrison McKim, Confederate soldier and Washington, D.C. clergyman, wrote the principal inscription of the north side of the monument. President Woodrow Wilson addressed some 3,000 Confederate and Union veterans at the dedication. For related publications see: Hillman, Benjamin J., "Monuments to Memories: Virginia Civil War Heritage in Bronze and Stone," [Richmond:] Virginia Civil War Commission, [1965], pg. 33; and Widener, Ralph W., Jr., "Confederate Monuments: Enduring Symbols of the South and the War between the States," Washington, DC: Andromeda Associates, 1982, pg. 23.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Virginia survey, 1995.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, E-12.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, VA0027, 1989.

Monumental News, July 1914; Sept. 1914.

Michael Richman, SAAM curatorial assistant, 1967-1969.

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, E-12.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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