Reconciliation and Remembrance
(1914 Unveiling of the Reconciliation Monument in Arlington National Cemetery)
The Department of Defense recently announced that the Confederate Memorial, commonly known as the Reconciliation Monument, will be restored to its place in Arlington National Cemetery near the grave of its famous sculptor, Moses Ezekiel.
Ezekiel, who was wounded fighting alongside his fellow VMI cadets at the Battle of New Market, was the first cadet of Jewish descent to attend VMI. After the war, he returned to VMI to complete his education and became acquainted with Robert E. Lee, who encouraged Ezekiel to pursue a career as an artist.
Heeding Lee’s advice, Ezekiel went on to an illustrious career and is known as the first American-born Jewish artist to reach international fame. Ezekiel welcomed heads of state (including Ulysses S. Grant and Emperor Wilhelm II) and other celebrities to his popular studio in Rome, from which he produced sculptures that are now exhibited throughout the United States and Europe.
Perhaps his most famous work was the Confederate Memorial, which followed President William McKinley’s call for reconciliation between the North and South. McKinley, a Union Army veteran of the Civil War, sought to heal America’s sectional divisions and spearheaded the reinternment of several hundred Confederate graves in a specially dedicated section of Arlington.
In the spirit of reconciliation of that era, Secretary of War William Howard Taft approved the placement of a monument in the Confederate section, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) commissioned and paid Ezekiel to create the memorial. It became his magnum opus and was dedicated in1914.
McKinley had a direct connection to Lexington, having participated in Gen. David Hunter’s destructive raid in 1864 that burned VMI and ransacked Washington College. McKinley was critical of the Union Army’s mistreatment of civilians and pillaging of private property.
A wave of national unity swept over America during the Spanish-American War in 1898. In a remarkable display of rapprochement, McKinley appointed Robert E. Lee’s nephew, Fitzhugh Lee—a former major general in the Confederacy and post-war governor of Virginia—to serve as one of the highest-ranking generals in the United States Army at that time.
It is noteworthy that men like McKinley, in the face of lingering bitterness between the North and the South, recognized the importance of not only reconciling with former enemies, but also remembering and honoring their respective sacrifices. Ezekiel’s memorial advanced the notion that those who died in our nation’s greatest tragedy—including Confederates—deserve a place in America’s collective memory.
The enormous sacrifices of the Civil War must not be ignored or erased. While we can debate the causes and the motivations of the combatants on both sides, monuments—which, like many works of art, are often controversial—serve to teach us about our past. Eliminating such memorials deprives future generations of important historical lessons. And as George Santayana said, “Those who fail to remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
McKinley knew that, for America to come together as one people, we had to overcome the cycle of resentment and the lingering anger that impedes our progress. The process of reconciliation requires that we confront our past, learn from one another’s perspectives, and humanize our former enemies.
Robert E. Lee understood this and emerged as a leading voice for reconciliation after the war. He urged his fellow Southerners to bury the hatchet, allay their passions, and raise their children to be Americans.
Yet in the cultural upheaval that recently swept America, Lee was unfairly canceled by woke mobs who were more interested in perpetuating anger and resentment than in reconciling past differences. That moment of intolerance has thankfully passed. The restoration of the Reconciliation Monument at Arlington is the latest evidence of America’s return to reason and constructive dialogue.
The leadership of Washington and Lee should take note. In the tumultuous years of 2020-2021, the University overreacted by deemphasizing if not erasing Lee’s essential role in shaping W&L’s culture. Now the time has come for Lee to be fully restored to his rightful place of honor on campus. We urge the Board of Trustees to return Lee Chapel to its status quo ante and to embrace the legacy that Lee bestowed upon our University.
For more information on the restoration of the Reconciliation Monument, please click THIS link.
Respectfully,
Gib Kerr, ‘85, ‘00P
The Generals Redoubt