Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument

Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument

Artist Laura Gardin Fraser
Year 1948
Medium Bronze
Coordinates Coordinates: 39°19′28″N 76°37′11″W / 39.32431°N 76.61983°W / 39.32431; -76.61983
Owner City of Baltimore

The Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument, often referred to simply as the Jackson and Lee Monument or Lee and Jackson Monument, is a double equestrian statue of Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, located on the west side of the Wyman Park Dell in Charles Village in Baltimore, Maryland. The monument is situated alongside a forested hill, similar to the topography of Chancellorsville, Virginia, where Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee met before the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863.

Significance

The Jackson and Lee Monument is the first double equestrian statue in the United States.[1] Artist Laura Gardin Fraser was the only woman sculptor selected out of five other men to create the monument. Notable architect John Russell Pope was commissioned to design the base of the monument.

Background

Although the statue wasn't dedicated until 1948, funding for the statue was secured by Colonial Trust Company owner J. Henry Ferguson before he died in 1928. Ferguson provided $100,000 for the erection of the monument.[2] The monument has held its place on the west side of the Wyman Park Dell along Art Museum Drive since its dedication, but has recently been threatened with removal by the Baltimore City Government.

After the 2015 Charleston church shooting, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake organized a commission to evaluate removal of the city's four confederate monuments.[3] In January 2016, the commission decided that the Jackson and Lee Monument, along with William Henry Rhinehart's Roger B. Taney Sculpture in Mount Vernon Place would to be removed.[4]

Inscription

The base of the sculpture features the following inscription:[1]

SO GREAT IS MY CONFIDENCE IN/ GENERAL LEE THAT I AM WILLING TO/ FOLLOW HIM BLINDFOLDED / STRAIGHT AS THE NEEDLE TO THE POLE/ JACKSON ADVANCED TO THE EXECUTION/ OF MY PURPOSE


(West steps:) THE PARTING OF GENERAL LEE AND/ STONEWALL JACKSON ON THE EVE/ OF CHANCELLORSVILLE


(East steps:) GIFT OF J. HENRY FERGUSON OF MARYLAND.


(North steps:) THEY WERE GREAT GENERALS AND/ CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS AND WAGED/ WAR LIKE GENTLEMEN.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Monument Commission". Baltimoreplanning.wix.com. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
  2. ↑ "Baltimore's Confederate Memory & Monuments · Baltimore's Civil Rights Heritage". Baltimoreheritage.github.io. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
  3. ↑ "monumentcommission". Baltimoreplanning.wix.com. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
  4. ↑ "Baltimore City commission recommends removal of two Confederate monuments". Baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
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