Appomattox

At the intersection of South Washington Street and Prince Street in Alexandria, Virginia stands this statue -- Appomattox.

It was inspired by a painting of a lone Confederate soldier surveying the aftermath of the Civil War battle at Appomattox Court House that led to the Confederacy's surrender to the Union.

"Appomattox" was commissioned by the Robert E. Lee Camp United Confederate Veterans and placed in the location where Alexandrians marched south to join the war. The statue's gaze looks south in tribute.

This memorial is a solemn reminder that I live south of the Mason Dixon line in Confederate territory. Most of the time, Northern Virginia bares very little resemblance to the rest of this very southern state. It's easy to forget in my neck of the woods that I live in a state that seceded from the Union in 1861.