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Proposed monument to Robert E. Lee at Libby Hill

04/16/2014 8:34 AM by

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Libby Hill was first imagined as a grand monument to Robert E. Lee:

Erected in 1895 and designed by a committee led by veteran Wilfred Cutshaw, the monument shows an anonymous Confederate soldier atop a column. Cutshaw based this column on Pompey’s Pillar in Alexandria, Egypt, a monument to Roman Emperor Dioclecian’s victory over an Alexandrian revolt. Originally, Cutshaw had envisioned Libby Hill as the site of a grand public memorial to General Robert E. Lee. He believed a monument on this site would be prominently visible from most points in the city. Though not as grand as the Lee proposal, the current monument is still highly visible throughout the city, serving as a visual marker of the location of Libby Hill Park as well as a link to Monument Avenue downtown.

via Richmond’s Post-Industrial East End


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