Confederate Statues Moved To Lexington Cemetery

LEXINGTON, Ky (LEX 18) Susan Straub, from the Lexington Mayor’s office, released a statement saying that the statues of John Hunt Morgan and John Breckinridge have been moved to the Lexington Cemetery.Straub made this announcement on Tuesday, saying that the statues were moved from storage and into the cemetery that afternoon."Today we are doing exactly what we said we would do. The statues of John Hunt Morgan and John Breckinridge were moved out of storage this afternoon to The Lexington Cemetery. The statues are mounted on granite bases we installed this evening. Tomorrow, the Cemetery will open as usual at 8 a.m. Visitors will be able to view the Morgan and Breckinridge statues in a respectful place where people can learn more about Civil War history. Both men are buried at the Cemetery, along with many Confederate and Union soldiers," said Straub. The statues of John Hunt Morgan, a Confederate general, and John C. Breckinridge, who served as a U.S. vice president and later Secretary of War for the Confederacy, were removed in October 2017. Mayor Gray called for the Morgan and Breckinridge statues to be moved on August 12 and on August 17 the Council voted unanimously to move the statues. On September 11, 2017, the Lexington Cemetery Trustees gave conditional approval to move the statues to the cemetery where both men are buried. The cemetery will reopen as at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.