Republicans freak out after university moves memorial for Confederate general’s horse

Washington and Lee University in Virginia triggered outrage from right-wing commentators after it moved a memorial marker for Confederate General Robert E. Lee's horse, reported The Daily Beast on Wednesday.

"University officials removed two markers dedicated to the memory of Robert E. Lee’s horse, Traveller, in July, The College Fix reported. Lee was Traveller’s saddled companion during and after the Civil War, and the horse died a few months after Lee’s death in 1871," reported Brooke Leigh Howard. "According to a July press release from Washington and Lee, the first plaque was on a stable, which was said to be Traveller’s last home. The other marker was a gravestone for the horse which was buried near the University Chapel, also the burial site for Lee and a national landmark ... Two other plaques that commemorated where Lee took the university’s presidential oath of office and where his office was located were also removed."

Washington and Lee University is itself named for Lee, who served as the institution's president following the Civil War.

According to the report, the university has stated its intent to move the markers, which were originally donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, to an exhibit about Lee, providing the historical context behind them, and place new markers in their previous positions — but even this was enough to trigger fury from right-wing figures who oppose removing Confederate monuments, even those explicitly erected to glorify white supremacy and the cause of slavery.

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“It appears that Washington and Lee University is not only canceling Lee but even his horse,” raged Jonathan Turley, a GWU law professor who describes himself as a Democrat but has consistently backed Republican and pro-Trump causes for years, even as he admitted Traveller was not a "major historical figure." Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) agreed, replying on Twitter/X, “And the horse you rode in on.”'

But other commentators praised the school's attempt to contextualize the monuments. “Traveller was not honored for any reason other than the myth behind the guy who sat on his back, Robert E. Lee, who viewed the horse as his property no different than the Black persons he fought to keep,” said Georgia State University law professor Anthony Michael Kreis.