Traveller’s Headstone

Traveller remains one of the most famous horses of the nineteenth century. General Robert E. Lee purchased the iron-gray gelding in 1862, and the two became inseparable companions throughout the Civil War. During his presidency of Washington College, Lee frequently rode Traveller through the countryside surrounding Lexington, developing an extraordinary affection for the horse. Writing to his daughter Mildred in 1865, Lee described Traveller as his “only companion” and his “pleasure,” recalling their excursions into the mountains together.

Traveller survived Lee by only eight months, dying of tetanus in June 1871. Originally buried near Woods Creek behind the college, his remains were exhumed in 1875 at the direction of Lee's son, George Washington Custis Lee, and sent to Rochester, New York, for preservation and mounting. The skeleton eventually returned to Lexington in 1907, during the centennial celebration of Lee's birth, and was exhibited in the Brooks Museum of Natural History. The skeletal display moved to Lee Chapel's new museum in 1929, where it attracted criticism from certain members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and some students. Ensuing decades were unfavorable to the remains, which suffered considerable deterioration, damage, and graffiti. During Lee Chapel's restoration in the early 1960s, the University removed the skeleton from public display and placed it in Baker Dormitory for storage.

On May 8, 1971, nearly a century after his death, Traveller's remains were finally laid to rest on the south side of Lee Chapel, only a short distance from his master's tomb. The Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy donated a granite headstone identifying Traveller as the horse of General Robert E. Lee. Division President Mrs. Dewey Wood presided over the ceremony, while President Robert E. R. Huntley delivered remarks acknowledging alumni concerns over the treatment of Traveller's remains. Huntley explained that the burial was intended “to restore all who have been concerned about Traveller to a sense that he has now been finally laid to a resting place near his master.”

On July 13, 2023, students placed apples on Traveller's grave in protest of the University's ongoing removal of historical memorials across campus. The gesture recalled Traveller's well-known fondness for apples and preceded the removal of his headstone by just one day. On July 14, University officials removed Traveller's original headstone and replaced it with a new marker omitting all references to General Lee and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The University declared shortly afterward that the removed memorial would be contextualized alongside others in a new museum exhibit in Lee Chapel. That exhibit was never installed.

University officials subsequently replaced the interpretive signage beside Traveller's grave. The previous panel, titled “In Memory of General Lee's Beloved Traveller,” featured a photograph of Lee in Confederate uniform, described Traveller's service during the Civil War, and acknowledged the United Daughters of the Confederacy for marking his grave and stable. The replacement, titled simply “Traveller,” omits these references and considerably reduces the historical narrative.

TRAVELLER
HORSE OF
GEN. ROBERT E. LEE
PLACED BY
VIRGINIA DIV. UDC
MAY 8, 1971

In a July 16, 2023, statement, Washington and Lee University declared that its campus was “neither a museum nor an appropriate repository for Confederate artifacts.” The university identified four historical plaques recently removed from campus, including two from Payne Hall and two memorials to Traveller, which it announced were “being installed” in a “new permanent exhibit” in Lee Chapel titled The Power of Memory: Remembering Robert E. Lee.

The university never installed the promised exhibition. When the renovated chapel galleries reopened in June 2026, none of the four plaques appeared on display. In an August 21 response to The Generals Redoubt, Museum Director Matt Davis explained that “the exhibition plans changed with the establishment of the Department of Institutional History Museum and Galleries in July 2024.”

The university has not responded to subsequent TGR inquiries concerning the whereabouts and future exhibition of removed plaques. However, in September 2026 correspondence with The W&L Spectator, Davis stated: “Our storage facility is not open to the public, nor do we make a list of our collections inventory available to the public.” He further explained that “the size and weight of some of these artifacts are not conducive to public viewing.” Regarding their future exhibition, Davis wrote: “It is possible that some or all of these artifacts will eventually be incorporated into temporary or permanent exhibits once the new museum is open, and we hope to have online databases and viewing rooms in the future.”

1. https://digitalarchive.wlu.edu/islandora/alumni-magazine-washington-and-lee-university-july-1971

2. https://digitalarchive.wlu.edu/islandora/ring-tum-phi-may-12-1971

3. https://www.thegeneralsredoubt.us/history-articles/the-forgotten-history-of-travellers-bones

4. https://www.wluspectator.com/articles/2023/7/14/travellers-headstone-removed-not-yet-replaced

5. Mark Ozboyd, photograph of apples placed on Traveller's grave, July 13, 2023, published in The W&L Spectator, “Traveller's Headstone Removed, Not Yet Replaced,” July 14, 2023. https://www.wluspectator.com/articles/2023/7/14/travellers-headstone-removed-not-yet-replaced

6. https://columns.wlu.edu/statement-regarding-the-relocation-of-plaques-to-a-new-exhibit-in-university-chapel

7. https://www.thegeneralsredoubt.us/press/promises-made-plaques-missing