Charlottesville

Lee and Jackson Parks contain two of Charlottesville's fine examples of public sculpture, gifts of benefactor Paul Goodloe McIntire (1860-1952). The Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson statue was dedicated in 1921,the Robert E. Lee statue in 1924. Depicting the Confederacy's two greatest heroes and executed by nationally prominent sculptors, the statues and parks exemplify both the contemporary desire to honor the South's heroes and the widespread civic improvements of the early 20th century City Beautiful movement.

The statue of a Confederate common soldier in front of the Albemarle County Courthouse was erected in 1909. Dedicated in a huge public ceremony, it illustrates the desire across the South to memorialize those who fought for the Confederate cause. Money for the statue came from public appropriations and from citizens' gifts rather than from one donor. The statue itself was created by a Chicago supplier of such figures for many localities, South and North.

Charlottesville's location behind the battle lines kept it from significant military action during the Civil War, but the community made a great contribution as the site of major Confederate hospital activity. From the Battle of First Manassas on, wounded soldiers filled many University of Virginia buildings, local structures and private homes. The medical school faculty, students and local citizens helped care for them. Several University and city buildings—called collectively the Charlottesville General Hospital—served as a large permanent hospital throughout the war. By war's end it had treated 21,450 cases; 1100 of those who died are buried in the Confederate Cemetery at the University.