Confederate Statue Removed Overnight At Loudoun Courthouse

LEESBURG, VA — A Confederate statue on the grounds of the Loudoun County courthouse in downtown Leesburg was removed Monday night by the Loudoun Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in coordination with the Loudoun County government. Only a portion of the concrete base remains where the Confederate statue, known as the "Silent Sentinel," stood for more than 112 years.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy hired a contractor to remove the statue, a county spokesman told News4. It was not clear to where the statue was moved, according to the report.

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously July 7 to return the statue to the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

The Loudoun board had been planning to consider removal of the statue, which sits on the grounds of the Loudoun County Courthouse at the corner of King Street and E. Market Street. But the county called off its efforts after the United Daughters of the Confederacy asked the county to return their statue of a Confederate soldier.

Under a Virginia law that took effect July 1, localities in Virginia can decide whether to remove Confederate statues.

Michelle Thomas, president of the Loudoun chapter of the NAACP, told the Washington Post earlier this month that she had tried to get the monument removed for years.

“It is overdue for the preservation of justice and for the full truth of the American experience to be told in a way that we no longer glorify the oppressors,” Thomas said. “It is a testament to who we are in Loudoun. While statues are being toppled over in anger, we’re following the rules of justice, to gain justice.”

Stephen Price, a lawyer for the United Daughters of the Confederacy, told the Post that he was happy with the county’s decision to let the group remove the statue, explaining that it was a sign that officials did not want the statue vandalized.

In the early 1900s, the Loudoun Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy selected sculptor Frederick William Sievers to construct the monument in honor of the Confederacy. The statue of the Confederate soldier at the courthouse was unveiled on May 28, 1908.

The monument depicts a Confederate soldier holding a musket. A plaque at the base read: “In memory of the Confederate soldiers of Loudoun County.”