About
The granite shaft of Confederate Memorial has a high-relief bronze of life-size figures depicting a southern family sending a youth off to war. Above it is a low-relief carving of an allegorical figure, the Angel of the Spirit of the Confederacy. On the reverse is a quote from General Robert E. Lee: “We had sacred principles to maintain and rights to defend for which we were duty bound to do our best, even if we perished in the endeavor.”
The monument was commissioned by the Ladies’ Confederate Monument Association through a design competition. Zolnay, who succeeded Robert Bringhurst as Professor of Sculpture at Washington University, entered the competition along with Bringhurst and Frederick Ruckstull. The models were publicly displayed and led to a heated newspaper controversy between Zolnay and Ruckstull about artistic merit.
REMOVED: June 29, 2017
Dimensions: 23′ x 9′ 5″
Year Completed: 1914
Material: Bronze and limestone
Owner: City of St. Louis
Donor: Ladies Confederate Monument Association
*Photo Courtesy of Forest Park Forever.