Unknown Confederate Dead - Oakland Cemetery - Atlanta, GA - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

County of monument: Fulton County
Location of monument: Oakland Ave., Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta
Artist: T. M. Brady, sculptor: replica
Artist Original: Bertel Thorwaldsen, 1768-1844, sculptor
Contractor: Georgia Marble Company

Proper Description: "A wounded and dying lion, with spear protruding from its back. The lion lies on a rock atop Confederate flag. His proper right forepaw grasps a cannon ball, partially covered by the flag, and his proper left paw is wrapped in the folds of the flag. Beneath him are several battle muskets and a cavalry sabre. The sculpture is mounted on a rectangular rough-hewn base." ~ Smithsonian American Art Museum

Remarks: "The sculpture marks the graves of several hundred unknown Confederate soldiers who died during the Atlanta Campaign in 1864. The idea for the memorial was initiated by the Ladies Memorial Association in Nov. 1892. T. F. Brady was hired to design the work, and marble was ordered from the Georgia Marble Company of Tate, Georgia. The design of the lion is reportedly based on either the "Journal Lion," in Grant Park; or the "Lion of Lucerne," by Thorwaldsen which commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792." ~ Smithsonian American Art Museum

"The Confederate section of Oakland is home to an estimated 6,900 burials, of which about 3,000 are unknown. During the Civil War, Atlanta was a major transportation and medical center for the Southern states. Since several of the largest military hospitals in the area were within a half mile (800 m) from Oakland, many soldiers who died from their wounds were buried here. Shortly after the war ended, a few thousand fallen soldiers from the Atlanta Campaign who were previously buried in battleground graves were moved to the Confederate grounds in Oakland. The area is marked by a large monument known as the Confederate Obelisk. This 65 foot (20 m) tall obelisk is made from granite quarried from Stone Mountain and was dedicated on April 26, 1874, the anniversary of Joseph E. Johnston’s surrender to William Sherman and thus the end of the American Civil War. For a number of years, the Confederate Obelisk was the tallest structure in Atlanta. To the northwest, very close to the obelisk itself, are buried four Confederate generals, John B. Gordon, Lucius J. Gartrell, Clement A. Evans, and William Wright. To the south of the obelisk is a large section of marked military graves. Of special note are the 16 marked graves of Union soldiers that are buried alongside Confederate soldiers. This practice was very uncommon at the time, but was likely done at Oakland due to dwindling burial space. Also located in the Confederate section is one of the most striking monuments at Oakland, the Lion of the Confederacy, or Lion of Atlanta. The lion, which guards a field containing the remains of unknown Confederate dead, was commissioned by the Atlanta Ladies Memorial Association and carved by T. M. Brady in 1894 out of the largest piece of marble quarried from north Georgia up to that time. Though Brady claimed that the design was original, with a few exceptions it is actually a near copy of the Swiss Lion of Lucerne." ~ Wikipedia