Confederate Memorial to Return to Arlington National Cemetery

Defense Secretary Pete Hegses announced on Tuesday that the “Reconciliation Memorial,” a Confederate monument, will be reinstated at Arlington National Cemetery. “We’re pleased to share that Moses Ezekiel’s impressive sculpture, often referred to as the reconciliation monument, will return to Arlington, close to his burial site,” Hegses mentioned on X.

The National Park Service has also indicated plans to restore this statue, which honors Confederate General Albert Pike.

This memorial was removed in 2023 during a broader Pentagon initiative that targeted military installations named after Confederate figures. It was subsequently relocated to a Department of Defense storage facility in Virginia.

“I shouldn’t have been outmaneuvered by the so-called awakened masses. Unlike some, I don’t believe in wiping out American history,” Hegses added.

When the memorial was taken down, Republican lawmakers argued it was not merely a tribute to the Confederacy but rather a symbol of reconciliation and national unity.

Originally announced in 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson at the request of the daughters of Allied forces, the revival of Confederate monuments like this one at Arlington was permitted by Congress just 14 years ago.

Moses Ezekiel, a Jewish American sculptor, fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. After the conflict, General Robert E. Lee, impressed by his skills, encouraged him to pursue sculpture, leading Ezekiel to study anatomy at Virginia Military College, as noted by the Smithsonian Museum of American Art.

He is also memorialized at Arlington.