Last Confederate monument removed from Virginia Capitol Square: 'History is history'

RICHMOND, Va. — The last Confederate monument standing on Virginia's Capitol Square was removed Saturday morning, completing a process that began six years ago during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 and accelerated through the state legislature this year.

Three other statues were removed Friday, leaving Capitol Square without any monuments honoring those who served in the Confederacy — a significant milestone for the former capital of the Confederacy.

The statues removed Friday depicted Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, two-time Virginia Governor and former Confederate General William "Extra Billy" Smith, and Confederate Army surgeon Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire. Smith's second term as governor came at the end of the Civil War.

The removals were included in this year's state budget and directed the statues to be gifted to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, where they will be moved to appropriate battlefield sites within the Shenandoah Valley.

"Preservation is more about the future than the past, and ensuring the preservation of the Capitol Square monuments is a part of that clear vision," Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation CEO David Walker said. "At the core of all we do is the belief that our shared history can unite the people of our nation; that there is strength and inspiration for our own times to be found in the struggles of the past."

The push to remove the statues began during the 2026 General Assembly session when then-State Senator Adam Ebbin, a Democrat from Alexandria, introduced legislation. His bill was one of several targeting Confederate iconography brought before the General Assembly this year.

State Senator Mike Jones, a Democrat from Richmond who was a Richmond City Council member when the first statues began coming down in 2020, said the removals reflect the Commonwealth's evolving identity.

"It's timely as we continue to move forward as a Commonwealth and who and how we see ourselves," Jones said. "Monuments, as I've always said, they're symbols. They point to something beyond themselves. Is this what the Commonwealth is about? Is this where we want to direct people to? And it's not. We have the moniker, the mantra, 'Virginia is for Lovers.' Well, hey, let's prove that in how we legislate and also how we look. The aesthetic of our Capitol grounds."

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Among those who watched the statues come down Friday was Richmond tour guide Jeffrey Holmes, who said he rushed to Capitol Square on his scooter when he heard what was happening.

"This is a moment in history, and that's what I like to witness and capture and talk about," Holmes said.

Holmes said he supports the removals, while acknowledging the range of reactions they have drawn.

"I am glad they are coming down. I know some people are upset. 'It is our history.' All this. Well, history is history. There is good history, there is bad history, and we need to learn it all, understand it all," Holmes said.

The process of removing the statues traces back to 2020, when protesters and city and state officials began tearing down monuments with ties to the Confederacy during the Black Lives Matter movement. The effort continued through city and state action over the following six years before culminating in this year's legislative push.

Republican leadership for the House of Delegates and Senate of Virginia did not respond to requests for comment or declined to comment on Friday's removals.

While the statues were gone by Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Department of General Services, which oversees the Capitol grounds, said removing the three concrete pedestals could take up to a week. There are currently no plans for what, if anything, will replace the statues.

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