Confederate Soldiers Monument

The Confederate Soldiers Monument which now stands at Greenwood Cemetery in Section J was originally erected in front of the Orange County Courthouse in 1911 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It was moved in 1917 to Lake Eola and remained there for a century until it was moved to Greenwood Cemetery as a part of a national campaign to remove or relocate statues and monuments honoring the Confederacy from public parks.  

During the first decades of the twentieth century, the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) and other groups began erecting monuments in public parks and in front of city halls and courthouses in an effort to “vindicate” the Confederate cause.¹ Orlando’s Confederate monument was first conceived by the Annie Coleman Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy of Orlando in 1908.²   

After nearly three years of fundraising through concerts, card parties, food sales, and soliciting donations, the chapter had raised the $2,500 needed to create their monument, which equates to over $80,000 in 2023.³ In April 1911, the chapter unveiled its marble monument at a dedication ceremony featuring the singing of “Bonnie Blue Flag,” a Confederate marching song, by thirteen young girls, each representing a Confederate state, followed by the laying of wreaths on the monument.⁴  

The monument itself features a six-foot-tall soldier atop a thirty-foot pedestal.⁵ “Johnny Reb,” as he has come to be known by locals, is captured mid-stride, carrying his rifle on his shoulder. The monument’s pedestal is encircled by inscriptions dedicated to the “Lost Cause” for which it stands.⁶ 

Though the UDC had voted for the monument to be placed at Lake Eola from the beginning, a council including prominent Orlando citizens decided to place the monument at the intersection of Central Boulevard and Main Street (Magnolia Avenue today), in front of the Orange County Courthouse.⁷ However, after numerous traffic accidents, caused by the placement of the monument, the city decided to move it to Lake Eola Park in 1917.⁸ “Johnny Reb” stood sentinel at his post on Lake Eola for one hundred years.  

On June 17, 2015, nine people were killed in a mass-shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC.⁹ The shooter’s actions linked Confederate iconography and White supremacy, which led to questions surrounding the suitability of monuments to the Confederacy in public spaces nationwide.¹⁰ These debates reignited discussions of the Civil War and the impact of the Lost Cause mythology on local memory. Many Orlando residents echoed national opinions that these monuments do not merely honor fallen soldiers, and instead serve as a “symbol of slavery, white supremacy, and a dark era of Orlando’s past” according to journalist David Porter, and therefore are not appropriate in public spaces.¹¹ These residents petitioned city leaders to remove Johnny Reb from Lake Eola.¹² Some Orlando residents felt that removing or relocating the statue would serve to erase history.¹³ Others argued that while they agreed with the critics of such monuments, they felt that keeping the statue in its prominent place could serve as a reminder of past divisions and in turn could help the public learn from the mistakes of the past .¹⁴ Ultimately, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer decided on May 15, 2017, to remove the statue from Lake Eola and relocate it to the Confederate section of Greenwood Cemetery where its significance is placed within the appropriate historical context.¹⁵    

When the City of Orlando disassembled the monument for relocation, they found that Johnny Reb’s base held a time capsule that contained objects such as Confederate money and flags as well as newspaper clippings and UDC documents.¹⁶ Upon its reassembly in Greenwood Cemetery, the City of Orlando installed a new time capsule in the base, with copies of the original documents and a variety of flags added to represent Orlando’s history and growth.¹⁷ The City of Orlando also restored the monument and replaced the soldier’s rifle, which had been missing for some time. 

Today, Orlando’s Confederate monument continues to serve as the setting for ceremonies honoring the memory of the Confederate soldiers who died over a century and a half ago. The words inscribed on the monument’s base continue to resonate with these locals: “Time cannot teach forgetfulness when grief’s full heart is fed by fame. ‘Tis wreathed around with glory and ‘twill lie in song and story, though its folds are in the dust...” 

1. Karen L. Cox, Dixie’s Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture (Florida: University Press of Florida, 2003), 49-51.

2. “History of the Confederate Monument,” Orlando Morning Sentinel, April 15, 1917, 8.

3. “Monument,” Orlando Morning Sentinel.; “Value of $2,500 from 1911 to 2023,” CPI Inflation Calculator, accessed February 16, 2023, https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1911?amount=2500

4. “Unveiling of the Confederate Monument. April 1911,” Dedication Program, Orange County Regional History Center, accessed July 17, 2023, https://collections.thehistorycenter.org/mIDetail.aspx?rID=2009-001-0206

5. “The Confederate Monument: A Work of Art-A Splendid Ornament To Orlando," February 16, 1911, Confederate Soldier Monument Collection, Orange County Regional History Center.

6. “Hidden In Plain Sight: A Selection of Central Florida Monuments: 1911 Confederate Soldier Monument,” RICHES, accessed July 16, 2023, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/exhibits/show/cflmonuments/1911csm 

7. “Monument,” Orlando Morning Sentinel.

8. “Monument," Orlando Morning Sentinel.

9. “Nine Killed in Shooting at Black Church in Charleston,” New York Times, June 18, 2015, accessed April 16, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/18/us/church-attacked-in-charleston-south-carolina.html 

10.  Marc Fisher, “Lone-Wolf Extremism Now Thriving in Web’s Shadows,” Orlando Sentinel, June 27, 2015, A6.; Jeff Weiner, “Online battle over Confederate statue at Lake Eola tips toward keeping it,” Orlando Sentinel, July 9, 2015, B3.; Jeff Weiner, “Dyer: Confederate Statue Will Move from Eola Park,” Orlando Sentinel, May 16, 2017, A1.

11. Beth Kassab, “Let’s Stop Paying Homage to the Confederacy,” Orlando Sentinel, June 23, 2015, B1.; Jeff Weiner, “Orlando to Move Lake Eola Confederate Statue,” Orlando Sentinel, June 20, 2017, B2.; “Remove Lake Eola Confederate Statue,” David Porter, video, 1:34, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx-F_cUHkO0 

12. Jeff Weiner, “Online battle over Confederate statue at Lake Eola tips toward keeping it,” Orlando Sentinel, July 9, 2015, B3.

13. “Letters: Confederate Statue’s Fate,” Orlando Sentinel, June 26, 2015, A18.

14. “Keep or Move ’Johnny Reb’?” Orlando Sentinel, July 26, 2015, A17.

15. Jeff Weiner, “Orlando to Move Lake Eola Confederate Statue,” Orlando Sentinel, June 20, 2017, B2.; Jeff Weiner, “Opponents of Decision Decry Cemetery Relocation,” Orlando Sentinel, May 16, 2017, A1, A9.; Jeff Weiner, “Dyer: Confederate Statue Will Move from Eola Park,” Orlando Sentinel, May 16, 2017, A1.

16. Jeff Weiner, “Relics Found in Statue’s Time Capsule,” Orlando Sentinel, August 9, 2017, A1.

17. Ryan Gillespie, “Confederate Statue’s Base Holds Flags That Salute City’s Changes,” Orlando Sentinel, June 21, 2018, A1, A6.