State of Virginia Monument

Located on West Confederate Avenue. See map >

From the monument: "Virginia to her sons at Gettysburg"

The Virginia monument was the first of the Confederate State monuments at Gettysburg. it was dedicated on June 8, 1917 and unveiled by Miss Virginia Carter, a niece of Robert E Lee.

It is also the largest of the Confederate monuments, a fitting tribute for the state that provided the largest contingent to the Army of Northern Virginia, its commander, and its name. Lee's figure, topping the monument astride his favorite horse, Traveller (see enlargement), was created by sculptor Frederick Sievers from photographs and life masks of the general. He even went to Lexington, Virginia to study Traveller's skeleton, preserved at Washington and Lee University.

Below Lee as he studies the distant Union lines are seven Confederate soldiers (see enlargement). According to the marker at the base of the monument, "The group represents various types who left civil occupations to join the Confederate Army. Left to right; a professional man, a mechanic, an artist, a boy, a business man, a farmer, a youth."

Virginia contributed over 19,000 men to the Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg. Almost 4,500 of these became casualties, a quarter of those engaged.

The monument stands 41 feet high, with the statue of Lee and Traveler standing 14 feet. Its total cost was $50,000.

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