Sir Moses Ezekiel – Cadet, Virginia Military Institute Confederate States of America

Born at Richmond, Virginia, on October 28, 1844, the son of Jacob and Catherine (deCastro) Ezekiel. He served as a Sergeant of Company C of the Cadets, Virginia Military Institute during the Civil War. After that service, he graduated from VMI in 1866.

He then studied antomy at the Medical College of Virginia. He moved to Cincinnati in 1868 and visited Berlin, Germany, in 1869 where he studied at the Royal Academy of Art under Professor Albert Wolf. Admitted into the Society of Artists in Berlin on the merits of his colossal bust of Washington, the first foreigner to win the Prize of Rome. The Jewish Order, Sons of the Covenant, commissioned him in 1874 to execute a marble group representing religious liberty for the Centennial Exhibition in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a monument of Jessie Seligmann for the Ophan Asylum in New York City. After 1886, his work became largely ideal.

Among his productions are busts of Lizst and Cardinal Hohenlohe, Eve, Homer, David, Judith, Christ in the Tomb, a statue of Mrs. Andrew W. White for Cornell University, Madonna for the Church La Tivoli, Faith for the Cemetery of Rome, Apollo and Mercury in Berlin, Robert E. Lee, Pan and Amor, the Fountain of Neptune for the city of Netturno, Italy, a bust of Lord Sherbrooke for St. Margaret, Westminister, London, and scores of busts and reliefs. He also produced the Jefferson Monument for Louisville, Kentucky, the Homer Group for the University of Virginia, Virginia Mourning Her Dead at Lexington, Virginia, Napoleon I at St, Helena, a monument to Senator Daniel, Lynchburg, Virginia, and the Confederate Soldiers’ Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. He was knighted by the King of Italy.

He died in Italy on March 27, 1917, but because of World War I, he was not returned to the United States until 1921, at which time he was buried at the foot of the Confederate Memorial in Section 16 of Arlington National Cemetery. His funeral service was the first ever to be held in the Memorial Amphitheater, one of only a handful so held.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard