ECW Weekender: The Civil War Horse Memorial

The old gray mare—she ain’t what she used to be. Or so the old song goes.

And such was the case for the millions of equestrians conscripted into service, North and South, during the Civil War. One-point-five million of them were killed or wounded or died of disease during the war.

A memorial to those horses and mules stands in front of the Virginia Historical Society (428 North Boulevard) in Richmond. The bronze statue, which sits on a granite base, was dedicated on September 17, 1997.

Tessa Pullan of Rutland England was the sculptor; Paul Mellon was the benefactor who commissioned the piece. It’s the third version of the statue—and the only one that’s life sized. The first two, which are three-quarter sized, stand at the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg, Virginia, and the U.S. cavalry Museum in Ft. Riley, Kansas. (For more information on the statue’s history, the NSLM has an excellent article.)

While you’re visiting the statue, a visit inside the Virginia Historical Society is definitely worthwhile.

The VHS sits just a couple blocks down from Monument Avenue. The equestrian statue of Stonewall Jackson sits at the intersection of Monument Avenue and Boulevard (the street the VHS is located on).