KIRKLAND STATUE
The Chancellor reported that, as a part of Virginia's celebration of the Civil War
Centennial, the City of Fredericksburg had appointed a subcommittee of the City's Civil War
Commission known as the Richard Kirkland Memorial Committee with the responsibility for
raising funds to erect a statue in honor of Richard Kirkland.
Richard Kirkland, a sergeant in the Confederate Army from South Carolina, was a hero
of the Battle of Fredericksburg which took place on December 13, 1862. Sergeant Kirkland
risked his life in crossing the stone wall on Sunken Road to bring water to wounded Federal
soldiers and became known as the "Angel of Mayre Heights." Equal contributions of $15,000
each had been made by the states of South Carolina and Virginia to underwrite the cost of
the statue. Mr. Felix D. de Weldon had been commissioned, the Chancellor continued, as the
sculptor for the statue at a cost of $25,000. Mr. de Weldon is known throughout the world
for his sculptures which include the Iwo Jima flag raising statue, the Pioneer Woman, and
many works placed in various countries. Mr. de Weldon is a member of the U. S. Fine Arts
Commission which reviews and approves monuments and buildings in the District of Columbia.
Mr. de Weldon on examining the sites available has recommended as an ideal site the
recent property acquired by Mary Washington College on Sunken Road opposite Brompton. It
was near this park that Sergeant Kirkland performed his heroic feats and it is also at the
point where the only original part of the stone wall remains. Mr. de Weldon suggested that
there would be a possible need for an access road to the monument. The Richard Kirkland
Memorial Committee has sufficient funds to landscape the property in accordance with the
recommendations of Mr. de Weldon.
The Richard Kirkland Memorial Committee has made a formal request for permission to
erect the monument on the College's property. If this request is approved, the City of
Fredericksburg will formally this monument to Mary Washington College to become its property
with the College being responsible for maintenance.
The following resolution was adopted:
RESOLVED by the Board of Visitors of The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
that Mary Washington College be and it is hereby authorized to accept from the legal owner
the Richard Kirkland Memorial Statue to be erected on the recently acquired property opposite
Brompton on Sunken Road subject to all legal requirements to be approved by special counsel for
the University and subject further to the approval of the Governor and the State Art Commission.
