Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia maybe gone and its statues of Confederate leaders — Robert E. Lee, J.E.B. Stuart, Jefferson Davis — removed, but here are some other Confederate memorial sites you can still visit.
1. Stone Mountain Park
Stone Mountain is a massive dome-shaped granite mountain that rises dramatically from the surrounding landscape. It’s one of the largest exposed granite outcrops in the world, but is better known for the famous Confederate Memorial Carving on its northern face. The carving depicts three prominent Confederate figures: Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. The park offers a wide range of outdoor activities, including hiking, biking, picnicking, and has several trails that lead to the summit of the mountain. In nearby Antebellum Plantation and Farmyard, where visitors can explore the history of the area before the Civil War.
2. Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum
Dedicated to the life and legacy of Jefferson Davis, the museum is located in Biloxi, Mississippi, on the grounds of Beauvoir, the historic estate where Jefferson Davis lived during the latter years of his life. The museum features a collection of artifacts, documents, and exhibits related to Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy. Visitors can explore displays that provide information about Davis’s life, his role in the Confederacy, and the broader context of the Civil War.
3. Confederate Cemetery at Oakwood
The burial ground located within the larger Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina is a significant historical site dedicated to honoring the memory of Confederate soldiers who served during the American Civil War. Among the Confederate generals buried here are: George B. Anderson, Henry King Burgwyn, Jr., William Ruffin Cox, Robert Hoke, and Thomas F. Toon. The cemetery was established during the Civil War era to provide a final resting place for Confederate soldiers who died in or around Raleigh during the conflict. Many of these soldiers succumbed to wounds, illnesses, or other hardships associated with wartime service.
4. The Confederate Memorial Hall Museum
Located in New Orleans, Louisiana, the museum is dedicated to preserving and showcasing the history and heritage of the Confederacy, particularly the experiences of Confederate soldiers and civilians during the American Civil War. Founded in 1891 by the United Confederate Veterans, a fraternal veteran organization, the museum houses an extensive and diverse collection of artifacts, documents, uniforms, weapons, flags, and personal items that belonged to Confederate soldiers and civilians. It has the personal effects and uniforms of Confederate generals Braxton Bragg and P.G.T. Beauregard, as well as over 140 regimental and other C.S.A. flags. Jefferson Davis’ wife Varina donated several of her late husband’s belongings to the museum including items of clothing, his Bible and saddle, plus a crown of thorns from Pope Pius IX. It was here that the exhumed body of Davis was mourned by over 60,000 people as it lay in state, before being moved to his final resting place in Hollywood Cemetery (in Richmond, Virginia).
5. The First White House of the Confederacy
Located in Montgomery, Alabama, this was the executive residence of President Jefferson Davis and his family during the early months of the Confederacy. Davis was inaugrated just across the street at the state capitol and Montgomery briefly served as the first capital of the Confederate States of America from February 1861 to May 1861 before the capital was moved to Richmond, Virginia. The First White House of the Confederacy is now a museum and historic site that offers visitors a glimpse into the early days of the Confederacy.
6. Chancellorsville
The Chancellorsville Historic Site commemorates the battle, fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863. It was one of the most significant battles of the American Civil War and has been called “Lee’s perfect battle” because of the general’s ability to vanquish a much larger foe through audacious tactics. Yet the Confederate victory came at a high cost and included the mortal wounding of Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. Jackson was buried in Lexington, Va. but his amputated left arm is buried in Chancellorsville where there is a grave marker.
7. Vicksburg
In Vicksburg, Miss., scene of heroic resistance to Federal siege, imposing antebellum mansions still preserve Union cannonballs in their walls. The city is also home to several significant historic landmarks related to the Siege of Vicksburg, including the historic building was used as the headquarters for Confederate General John C. Pemberton during the siege. Soldier’s Rest Cemetery contains the graves of Confederate soldiers who died during the siege and Vicksburg Riverfront Murals mark scenes from Vicksburg’s history, including events related to the Civil War.
8. Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) hosts a museum on campus dedicated to preserving and showcasing the history and heritage of the institute. Stonewall Jackson was a professor here and VMI cadets and alumni played key roles in the Civil War. Two of Jackson’s four division commanders at Chancellorsville, Generals Robert Rodes and Raleigh Colston, were VMI graduates as were more than twenty of his brigadiers and colonels. The mounted hide of Little Sorrel, a grey horse that became famous for carrying Jackson during several significant campaigns and battles of the Civil War, was preserved here.
9. Antietam
Antietam National Battlefield is a historical site located in Sharpsburg, Maryland. Fought between Lee and the Union Army led by McClellan, the battle was part of Lee’s first invasion of the North and is often referred to as the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. The fighting resulted in a staggering number of casualties, with over 23,000 soldiers killed, wounded, or missing by the end of the day. Visitors can walk along one of the most iconic features of the battlefield: the Sunken Road, often called “Bloody Lane,” a focal point of the battle and witnessed intense and brutal fighting. Every September, the battlefield hosts a commemorative event to mark the anniversary of the battle.
10. The Confederate Relic Room
The Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum is in Columbia, South Carolina. The museum features extensive exhibits dedicated to the Civil War era, with a particular focus on the Confederate military. These exhibits explore topics such as battles, leaders, military strategies, and the experiences of soldiers during the war. The museum also has the Confederate battle flag that was removed from the grounds of the South Carolina State House in 2015.
11. Twelve Oaks
In Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel Gone with the Wind, Twelve Oaks is the plantation home of the Wilkes family in Clayton County, Georgia named for the twelve great oak trees that surround the family mansion in an almost perfect circle. While she deliberately decided not to model neither Twelve Oaks or Tara (the family home of the O’Haras) after a specific locations, viewing them as symbols of the Old South and the antebellum way of life that had been washed away by the Civil War and its aftermath, the home that was used as Twelve Oaks in the 1939 film has been renovated and is now open as a bed and breakfast and event facility in Covington, thirty minutes east of Atlanta.
12. The Battle of Atlanta Cyclorama
The massive panoramic painting that depicts the Battle of Atlanta was created by a team of German artists, including Friedrich Wilhelm Heine, August Lohr, and assistants and unveiled in 1886 as a commemoration of the battle’s 25th anniversary. It was displayed in a specially designed building in Grant Park. The cyclorama is enormous, measuring approximately 42 feet in height and 358 feet in circumference – one of the largest cycloramas in existence – and captures the dramatic moments of the Battle of Atlanta, including infantry and cavalry charges, artillery fire, and the chaos of battle. Since 2019, the Cyclorama is housed at the Atlanta History Center.
13. Americana, Brazil
Many confederates fled the Southern United States during Reconstruction for Brazil, enticed by offers of cheap land from Emperor Dom Pedro II, who had hoped to gain expertise in cotton farming from the emigrant southerners. Up to 20,000 American Confederates immigrated to Brazil and founded the city of Americana. In the Campo Cemetery, most of the original migrants were buried and the town hosts an annual festival, called the Festa Confederada, marked by Confederate flags, uniforms and hoop skirts, food of the American South with a Brazilian flair, and dances and music popular in the American South during the Antebellum period.