Jackson's statue finds new context at New Market Battlefield

&emsp;&emsp;After a tumultuous year that saw the Statue of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson abruptly moved from in front of Jackson Arch at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) on December 7, 2021 to an undisclosed location, it is now in place at its new home in the roundabout at the Virginia Museum of the Civil War and New Market Battlefield State Historical Park. Jackson's name was subsequently expunged from the arch in his honor on the VMI barracks while the Corps was on Christmas break December 2021. &emsp;&emsp;According to VMI historian, Col. Keith Gibson '77, the new location provides important historical context to the statue. &emsp;&emsp;"Though Jackson did not fight in the Battle of New Market, the Luray Gap of the Massanutten Mountain, which can be seen from the battlefield, played a strategic role in concealing his army's movements against Union troops," Gibson said. "How fitting it is for the statue of Stonewall Jackson to look out over the Luray Gap which played such an important part of his Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862." &emsp;&emsp;Additional enlightening context comes from the original intent of the statue by its creator, world famous artist and New Market cadet, Sir Moses Ezikiel. As reprinted here from documents found in the VMI archives entitled Stonewall Jackson Statue for V. M. I., Sir Moses Ezekiel Contributes His Skill and Labor Free of All Charge to His Alma Mater by —Thomas F. Ryan's Generosity Makes the Offer Possible: Through the combined generosity of Sir Moses Ezekiel of Rome, Italy, and of Thomas Fortune Ryan of New York, a bronze statue of General Stonewall Jackson will soon be erected on the parade ground. It will be a replica of the statue wrought by Sir Moses for the Daughters of the Confederacy of West Virginia, and unveiled last September at Charleston. Mr. Ryan became interested in the matter through the efforts of Colonel Joseph Button, who is a member of the board of visitors of the institute. Colonel Button visited Mr. Ryan at his home in New York Monday night, secured his promise to contribute the $6,000 necessary for the consummation of the plans, and returned to Richmond yesterday morning. It was while Sir Moses was in Virginia last summer that the matter of placing a statue of the Confederate leader at the school where he was an instructor in philosophy for a decade preceding the was between the states, and which he loved so well, was first mentioned. Sir Moses Ezekiel, the noted sculptor and one of the institute cadets who marched out to do battle for their state and engaged in the encounter at New Market, then offered to have made a replica of the Charleston statue, then about to be erected. He is in possession of the original plaster cast, and offered to superintend the work and donate his time, if someone could be found to pay for the cost of labor and material, and of shipment from Rome to Lexington. WILL COST $6,000. This offer has now been repeated in a letter from Sir Moses to General E. W. Nichols, superintendent of the institute. This communication says that the actual cash outlay for the monument delivered at Lexington will be about $5000. Sir Moses will design a suitable pedestal in gray stone without making a charge for this work. In addition to the $5,000 for the cost to Sir Moses, it is estimated that there will be an additional expense of about $1,000 for a base and for incidental work which must be done in putting the monument in place. Colonel Button took up recently the matter of raising the requisite $6,000, and communicated with Thomas Fortune Ryan, the Virginia and New York financier and philanthropist, who is his personal friend. Mr. Ryan, in spite of his long residence in the North, is intensely Southern in all his feelings, and is interested especially in Confederate history. In his home in Nelson county of this state he has a private collection of Confederate relics and to autograph letters from leaders on the Southern side of the struggle. So in Mr. Ryan, Colonel Button secured a ready listener for the cause which he represented. A photograph of the Charleston monument was secured for his inspection, and he was at once interested. As stated, when Colonel Button called on him Monday night, he gave quick assent to the proposition that he should bear all the expenses of putting the monument in place. It depicts the commander looking over a battlefield, his coat swinging in the wind, his form erect, his face intent, his field glasses in his right hand, and his left grasping his sword. It represents Jackson as he was at First Manassas. QUESTION OF LOCATION The location of the monument will be determined later. It had been suggested that it should be placed in from of the sallyport of Jackson Hall, replacing the Ezekiel statue, "Virginia mourning Her Dead," which now stand facing the parade ground. In that case the latter would be moved to some other part of the parade ground. It is Colonel Button's individual idea that it might be well to place it on the southern edge of the ground, so that when the cadets drill daily they will face Jackson and he will face them. Showing General Jackson's love for the institute, a letter is in existence which he wrote from Centreville on October 22, 1861, to a committee of the board of visitors. In this he said: "Your circular of the 9th instant has been received, and I beg leave to say in reply that I only took the field from a sense duty and that the obligation that brought me into the service will retain me in it, and will probably continue to do so as long as the war shall last. At the close of hostilities, I desire to resume the duties of my chair and accordingly respectfully request that, if consistent with the interest of the board of visitors may be such as to admit my return upon the restoration of peace." ------------------- Torne di Belisario 28 Via Campania Rome, Italy. &emsp;&emsp;From Sir Moses Ezekiel to General E. W. Nichols, Sup't V. M. I., Lexington, Va. Regarding the donation of the statue and movement of this previous statue, Virginia Mourning Her Dead, donated to VMI as well as the New Market cadet graves from front of barracks to its current location. My Dear General: I repeat my offer to you in writing at your request that I will make the heroic size statue of General Stonewall Jackson in bronze upon a suitable pedestal in gray stone, all complete, boxed and shipped and delivered at Lexington for the bare material cost of $5,000.00. I have no idea what it would cost you to place it on the ground in front of the Jackson hall. The foundation is already there and consequently it could only cost a very small amount to place it; one or two hundred dollars. Of course the statue of Virginia Mourning Her Dead, with the pedestal would have to be moved and placed in position on the new site chosen before the Jackson could be placed. . . . . . . Yours faithfully, M. EZEKIEL. ------------------- &emsp;&emsp;Colonel Button's message expressing his appreciation for Mr. Ryan's gift in funding the cost of the statue, March 15, 1911. Mr. Thomas F. Ryan 858 Fifth Ave. New York, N. Y. My Dear Sir: A telegram from Col. Joseph Button, a member of the board of visitors of this institution, subsequently confirmed by a 'phone communication, brings the gratifying intelligence that you have kindly consented to donate to this institution a replica of Ezekiel's Stonewall Jackson recently unveiled in Charleston, W. Va. The board of visitors of the Institute will, at their first meeting make proper acknowledgment of this generous act on your part. In the meantime permit me to express the great appreciation felt by the authorities of the Institute by this act of generosity. The people of Virginia, as well as the alumni, will be greatly gratified. For 10 years General Jackson was a professor in this institution, and from our parade ground in April, 1861, he led the corps of cadets to Richmond, where they formed the drill masters of the recruits mustered there. General Jackson thus began the career which in two short years made his name and his fame. A statue of the great Christian solder located on our parade ground, made possible by your generosity, will not only serve as an inspiration to thousands of young men in the coming years, but will for all time connect your name with that of the equally generous sculptor, Sir Moses Ezekiel, who with equal generosity contributes his skill and labor free of all charge to his alma mater. I have the honor to be, my dear sir, Yours very respectfully, E. W. Nichols Sup't. &emsp;&emsp;For his part, Sir Moses Ezekiel's donation of Jackson's statue continued his intent to honor VMI, its code of honor and specifically the Corps Spirit of brotherhood that shaped his life not only as a cadet but during his participation in the Battle of New Market. According to Moses Jacob Ezekiel: From Confederate Cadet to World-Famous Artist published by the Jewish-American History Foundation, Ezekiel's statue of "Stonewall" Jackson was to memorialize him uttering his famous words, "The Institute will be heard from today," at the Battle of Chancellorsville, May 2, 1864. The Jewish-American History Foundation also notes that as for Virginia mourning her dead, "Ezekiel explained that he had conceived it [Virginia mourning her dead] about a decade earlier as a memorial to his fallen cadet comrades. Seeing the fresh young cadet faces before him at the dedication, Ezekiel recalled 'Something arose like a stone in my throat, and fell to my heart, slashing tears to my eyes.'"