Contractors removed three Confederate statues from Virginia’s Capitol Square on Friday under a line item written into the state budget passed by the General Assembly in June.
Workers took down the statue of Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, which had stood on the grounds since 1875. Crews also took down a statue of Confederate Army surgeon Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire. It went up in 1904. The third depicted William “Extra Billy” Smith, a Confederate general who twice served as Virginia governor and dated to 1906.
Budget Item 71 #1C directed the Department of General Services to remove every Confederate monument and memorial on the square, a spokesperson for the agency said. The money came with it. Lawmakers put $1.8 million toward the work in the fiscal 2027-28 budget, which took effect July 1.