J.E.B. Stuart Monument (Richmond)

:CSA1stNat:

MONUMENT PROFILE
  • Battlefield: City of Richmond, Virginia
  • Location: Monument Avenue and Lombardy Street intersection at Stuart Circle
  • Map Coordinates: 37° 33.148′ N, 77° 27.474′ W
  • Added to National Register of Historic Places: January 17, 1991, #90002098

MONUMENT DETAILS
  • Origin: Stuart Monumental Association, formed April 1866
    • Later in 1892, known as the Veteran Cavalry Association of the Army of Northern Virginia
  • Artist: Frederick Moynihan of New York
  • Cost: $30,000.00 in 1907
  • Dedicated: May 30, 1907
  • Restoration: Completed in 2006 at a cost of about $35,000
    • Organized by a campaign by the Stuart-Mosby Historic Society
  • Dimensions: Equestrian bronze statue- h. 15 ft.; Granite pedestal- h. 7½ ft.
  • Description: Stuart is turned in the saddle facing east while the horse faces north with it's right front foot is raised.
  • Remarks: The Monument was unveiled by 8-year-old Virginia Stuart Waller, the General’s granddaughter.
  • Sculpture Removed from Base: July 7, 2020 at 10:44 am by emergency order of Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney citing a "severe, immediate and growing threat to public safety" and taken to an undisclosed location in unknown condition.

MONUMENT TEXT
EAST
MAJ:GEN:J.E.B. STUART
COMMANDING CAVALRY CORPS
ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA
CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA
***
THIS STATUE ERECTED BY HIS COMRADES
AND THE CITY OF RICHMOND
A.D. 1906
WEST
BORN IN PATRICK COUNTY, VA. FEB 6 1833
DIED IN RICHMOND, VA. MAY 12 1864
AGED 31 YEARS
---
MORTALLY WOUNDED IN THE BATTLE OF YELLOW TAVERN
MAY 11, 1864
---
HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR HIS COUNTRY
AND SAVED THIS CITY FROM CAPTURE.
SOUTH
“TELL
GEN. STUART
TO ACT
ON HIS OWN JUDGEMENT
AND DO
WHAT HE THINKS BEST,
I HAVE IMPLICIT CONFIDENCE
IN HIM”
---

GEN. T. J. ‘STONEWALL’ JACKSON
IN TURNING OVER THE COMMAND
OF HIS TROOPS TO GEN. STUART
AFTER BEING WOUNDED
AT CHANCELLORSVILLE,
MAY 3, 1863
NORTH
“HIS GRATEFUL
COUNTRYMEN
WILL MOURN HIS LOSS
AND CHERISH
HIS MEMORY.
TO HIS COMRADES IN ARMS
HE HAS LEFT
THE PROUD RECOLLECTION
OF HIS DEEDS
AND THE
INSPIRING INFLUENCE
OF HIS EXAMPLE”

---
GEN. R. E. LEE,
ANNOUNCING THE DEATH OF
GEN. STUART
TO HIS ARMY - MAY 20, 1864.
LOCATION MAP




MONUMENT DEDICATION
1575397107199.png


“In the presence of a great multitude of people, and beneath cloudless skies, with the thunder of cannon, the waving of flags, the singing of children and the playing of bands, the equestrian statue of Major-General J. E. B. Stuart was unveiled yesterday by a granddaughter of the world-famous cavalry leader. . .The exercises of the monument were preceded by one of the most notable parades ever seen in Richmond, in which nearly 10,000 men participated, the column taking over an hour to pass a given point.”
-- The Times Dispatch, May 31, 1907

On hand for the dedication was: Mrs. Flora Stuart and Mrs. Anna Jackson.
A Dedication Address for the J.E.B. Stuart Monument was given by Judge Theodore S. Garnett.



1575394591674.png
A MONUMENTAL CONTROVERSEY 1907

Was the J.E.B. Stuart Monument a Cheap Imitation?


A furor arose over the design of the J.E.B. Stuart Equestrian Sculpture in 1907, because it appears that it's almost a direct copy of the statue of Sir James Outram, by John Henry Foley created in 1861 and on display in Kolkata, India. Some accused artist Frederick Moynihan of making an exact copy of the Outram Statue and just adding a hat, a cape, and a beard!

Portrait of the Outram Statue by Roffe, 1875.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS


1573698316022.png

Photo from the Monument Dedication, taken May 30.
Photo from The Times Dispatch,
Published on May 31, 1907


1573677276323.png

LOC Photo, taken between 1906 and 1910.

 
Last edited:
Monument Avenue is impressive in design and content. If you haven't visited any CW fan should. Monument Avenue was designed It is a shame in my opinion concerning removal of monuments like this with great historical importance. monument Avenue was constructed in 1870 well before statues to Confederacy heroes began. R. E. statue was erected 1n 1890 and the 5th and last CS monument was erected to Matthew Fontaine Maury about 1930. I enjoy seeing them all including the latest so far of Arthur Ashe which was unveiled in 1996 (I am die-hard tennis fan and player).

The Frederick Moynihan (1843-1910) sculpture inspired by renowned British sculptor John Henry Foley (1818-1874), has had controversy over artistic merits, but every monumental sculpture through history has had critics. Moynihan had completed 10 public commissions prior to JEB Stuart. Another equestrian statue he did has similar look in distance as to pose of horse but there are many others by other artists that look similar. Moynihan was not a great monumental artist, he has no public sales of any sculpture but he was good enough to teach art in NYC. I am attaching an article written for Civil War News last year concerning auction of equestrian statue of R. E. Lee in Dallas, it sold for just over 1.5 million dollars. Public monuments are always going to be controversial, sometimes artistically and in more recent times politically. Many Civil War monuments have little artistic merit, but some do, and regardless of controversy, Moynihan was popular in his public commissions, all with initial acclaim I find. I like his first large commission (1880), a larger than life size panoply of arms cut in marble memorializing lives lost in ship wreck of Guernsey, England where Moynihan was born. JEB would be his last work as he died 3 years later.
 

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