The John Hunt Morgan Memorial

[Buckeye Bill]

The John Hunt Morgan Memorial in Lexington, Kentucky, is a monument created as a tribute to Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan, who was from Lexington and is buried in nearby Lexington Cemetery.

With the help of the state government of Kentucky, the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected the monument on October 18, 1911 on what was then the courthouse lawn. The bronze statue was cast in Brooklyn, New York, at a cost of $15,000. The state of Kentucky contributed $7,500 of the cost because the UDC was unable to raise all of the funds promised. The ceremony included a parade of 400 veterans. The pedestal is of granite. The monument was dedicated by Morgan's brother-in-law Basil W. Duke, master of ceremonies, and keynote speaker Dr. Guy Carleton Lee, a third cousin of Robert E. Lee. Also in attendance were John Castleman, and Morgan's brothers Charlton and Dick. Of the monuments of the American Civil War in Kentucky, it is the only one with a soldier on horseback.

Morgan's horse, Black Bess, was a mare, but sculptor Pompeo Coppini thought a stallion was more appropriate. Coppini said, "No hero should bestride a mare!". Therefore, Coppini added the necessary testicles. Undergraduates from nearby University of Kentucky have been known to paint the testicles of the horse in the school colors of blue and white. An anonymous author wrote the "Ballad of Black Bess", which ended with:

So darkness comes to Bluegrass men —
Like darkness o'er them falls —
For well we know gentlemen should show
Respect for a lady's balls.

The memorial was one of 60 different Civil War properties in Kentucky placed on the National Register of Historic Places on the same day, July 17, 1997. Three other properties listed that day are also located in Lexington: the John C. Breckinridge Memorial, which is on the other side of the same block as the Morgan Memorial, and the Confederate Soldier Monument in Lexington and the Ladies' Confederate Memorial, both in nearby Lexington Cemetery.

In November 2015, a committee, the Urban County Arts Review Board's, voted to recommend removal of the Morgan and Breckinridge memorials. After receiving pressure from local grassroots organizing, Mayor Jim Gray re-announced plans to relocate the memorial to Veterans Park in south Lexington. The monuments were removed October 17, 2017. Both the Morgan and Breckinridge memorials were relocated at the Lexington Cemetery.

* Wikipedia

 

[Buckeye Bill]

* The John C. Breckinridge Statue.

 

[BlueandGrayl]

Nice to see them in a more appropriate location but I prefer others stay where they are and John Hunt Morgan was an effective cavalry raider himself as was John C. Breckinridge as an effective general.

 

[James N.]

I believe Coppini is the same sculptor who created the also-removed statue of Robert E. Lee in Dallas; at this time it's fate is also unknown, though other communities have shown an interest in it.

 

[donna]

Beautiful photos. Thanks so much for posting. Just so glad the statutes are now in a safe place and can be seen by those who want to see them.

 

[James N.]

Beautiful photos. Thanks so much for posting. Just so glad the statutes are now in a safe place and can be seen by those who want to see them.

Personally I wish they'd been there during my 2017 visit to Lexington - we went to the cemetery but not to the courthouse!

 

[James N.]

I believe Coppini is the same sculptor who created the also-removed statue of Robert E. Lee in Dallas; at this time it's fate is also unknown, though other communities have shown an interest in it.

As often these days, I find I'm wrong about this - Coppini instead sculpted another monument that's about to be moved/removed, the gigantic Alamo Cenotaph ("empty tomb") that stands in front of the Alamo in San Antonio in what once was the plaza of the mission. Many now want it removed since it dwarfs the Alamo and adjacent convento/Long Barracks Museum - they think if it was gone it would be easier to imagine the interior of the mission fortress as it appeared in 1836, a stretch to say the least! Coppini sculpted the statues of Jim Bowie, William Barrett Travis, David Crockett, James Butler Bonham, and other Alamo defenders that stand around the base of a huge pylon; this used to be in the middle of a four-lane street, but that has been closed off to auto traffic to create a pedestrian mall, much more respectful to the site. As with Confederate statuary there are others like me who disagree and think it would be better to leave things alone!

 

[redbob]

Personally I wish they'd been there during my 2017 visit to Lexington - we went to the cemetery but not to the courthouse!

Unless you were walking, the courthouse was hard to get around due to traffic; and for the last year or two there had been renovations going on at the courthouse. The only reason that I was able to get a close look at them was that my daughter and I was walking from her office to a local hot dog stand for lunch.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

@KLSDAD and I toured the historical sites today in Greenville, Tennessee. We first toured the Andrew Johnson National Historical Site. I highly recommend this NPS venue. We also toured the Dickson - Williams Mansion. Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan was shot and killed in this mansion's rose garden on September 4th, 1864.

 

[ErnieMac]

There is one other member of the Morgan family buried in Lexington Cemetery. She is listed on Find A Grave as Catherine "Kitty" Morgan Hill Forsyth. In addition to being the sister of John Hunt Morgan, Kitty was the wife of Lieutenant General A. P. Hill.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11731731/catherine-hill_forsyth

 

[James N.]

There is one other member of the Morgan family buried in Lexington Cemetery. She is listed on Find A Grave as Catherine "Kitty" Morgan Hill Forsyth. In addition to being the brother of John Hunt Morgan, Kitty was the wife of Lieutenant General A. P. Hill.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11731731/catherine-hill_forsyth

Sounds like "transgendered" individuals have been around longer than I realized - I thought Hill had sex "problems" but I didn't realize they were quite like this!

 

[Northern Light]

There is one other member of the Morgan family buried in Lexington Cemetery. She is listed on Find A Grave as Catherine "Kitty" Morgan Hill Forsyth. In addition to being the brother of John Hunt Morgan, Kitty was the wife of Lieutenant General A. P. Hill.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11731731/catherine-hill_forsyth

Where is she listed as a brother????

 

[ErnieMac]

Sounds like "transgendered" individuals have been around longer than I realized - I thought Hill had sex "problems" but I didn't realize they were quite like this!

Where is she listed as a brother????

Oops. What can I say? It was 11:00 p.m. and one time zone west.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

There is one other member of the Morgan family buried in Lexington Cemetery. She is listed on Find A Grave as Catherine "Kitty" Morgan Hill Forsyth. In addition to being the sister of John Hunt Morgan, Kitty was the wife of Lieutenant General A. P. Hill.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11731731/catherine-hill_forsyth

Great stuff!!!

Bill

 

[Northern Light]

Oops. What can I say? It was 11:00 p.m. and one time zone west.

 

[Desert Kid]

I'm somewhat uncomfortable with how Morgan is sitting on the pedestal so low to the ground.

 

[redbob]

I'm somewhat uncomfortable with how Morgan is sitting on the pedestal so low to the ground.

It is rather somewhat of a blessing and a curse, when the statues were located at the courthouse, they were so high that they were rather hard to see; now being lower you can see them better, but I fear that they will now be a better target for vandals.

 

[Fish]

As far as Morgan's horse, they were safety orange every time I looked!!

 

[byron ed]

I'm somewhat uncomfortable with how Morgan is sitting on the pedestal so low to the ground.

I agree. It's not a correct reset. No Architect would have bought off on it, had they even sought such professional advice. It was intended to be seen at height, some at least.