Removal of Confederate Statues in Virginia
On Friday, contractors dismantled three Confederate statues from Capitol Square in Virginia, following a provision included in the state budget passed by the General Assembly in June.
The workers removed the statue of Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, which had been in place since 1875. They also took down a statue of Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire, a Confederate Army surgeon that was erected in 1904. The third statue depicted William “Extra Billy” Smith, a Confederate general and two-time Virginia governor, installed in 1906.
According to a spokesperson for the Department of General Services, Budget Item 71 #1C mandated the removal of all Confederate monuments and memorials from the square. Financial backing of $1.8 million was allocated for this initiative in the fiscal 2027-28 budget, which became effective on July 1.
The removal occurred several months after a standalone bill for statue removal, introduced by former state Senator Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria), failed to pass. His bill, SB636, managed to clear the Senate along party lines but stalled in the House Appropriations Committee before its language was integrated into the budget.
Ebbin, who has since transitioned to join Governor Abigail Spanberger’s administration, remarked that the action shifts who the state honors rather than altering historical facts.
“This doesn’t change the history of the Civil War,” the Alexandria Democrat commented. “It changes who we choose to venerate on the Capitol lawn.”
State Senator Mike Jones (D-Richmond) acknowledged the governor’s administration for completing a project he initiated back in 2018. “I’m glad that our current administration, Governor Spanberger, is ensuring that we continue what we began some years ago,” Jones stated.
Spanberger, who campaigned as a moderate, took decisive action on her first day in office, signing ten executive orders. In April, she enacted legislation that removed tax exemptions from organizations associated with the Confederacy and halted the renewal of specialty license plates bearing the name of Robert E. Lee.
The budget also specified that the statues are to be transferred to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, whose CEO indicated that they would be relocated to various battlefield sites in the Shenandoah Valley.
“Preservation is more about the future than the past, and ensuring the preservation of the Capitol Square monuments is a part of that clear vision,” said CEO David Walker.
Additionally, at a recent campaign event in Boston, Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) remarked that “the Confederacy is still alive and well,” and linked that sentiment to the MAGA movement.
The Department of General Services informed that removing the three pedestals could take up to a week, and there are no plans for replacements.
