The John Hunt Morgan Memorial in Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

, is a monument

Monument

A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or simply as an example of historic architecture...

 created as a tribute to Confederate General John Hunt Morgan

John Hunt Morgan

John Hunt Morgan was a Confederate general and cavalry officer in the American Civil War.Morgan is best known for Morgan's Raid when, in 1863, he and his men rode over 1,000 miles covering a region from Tennessee, up through Kentucky, into Indiana and on to southern Ohio...

, who was from Lexington and is buried in nearby Lexington Cemetery.

With the help of the state government of Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, the United Daughters of the Confederacy

United Daughters of the Confederacy

The United Daughters of the Confederacy is a women's heritage association dedicated to honoring the memory of those who served in the military and died in service to the Confederate States of America . UDC began as the National Association of the Daughters of the Confederacy, organized in 1894 by...

 erected the monument on October 18, 1911 on what was then the courthouse lawn. The bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

 statue

Statue

A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...

 was cast in Brooklyn, New York, at a cost of $15,000. The state of Kentucky contributed $7,500 of the cost because the UDC was unable to raise all of the funds promised. The ceremony included a parade of 400 veterans. The pedestal was of granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

. The monument was dedicated by Morgan's brother-in-law Basil W. Duke

Basil W. Duke

Basil Wilson Duke was a Confederate general officer during the American Civil War. His most noted service in the war was as second-in-command for his brother-in-law John Hunt Morgan; Duke would later write a popular account of Morgan's most famous raid: 1863's Morgan's Raid...

, master of ceremonies, and keynote speaker Dr. Guy Carleton Lee, a third cousin of Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee

Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....

. Also in attendance were John Castleman, and Morgan's brothers Charlton and Dick. Of the monuments of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 in Kentucky, it is the only one with a soldier on horseback.

Morgan's horse, Black Bess, was a mare

Mare

Female horses are called mares.Mare is the Latin word for "sea".The word may also refer to:-People:* Ahmed Marzooq, also known as Mare, a footballer and Secretary General of Maldives Olympic Committee* Mare Winningham, American actress and singer...

, but sculptor Pompeo Coppini

Pompeo Coppini

Pompeo Luigi Coppini was an Italian sculptor who emigrated to the United States. Although his works can be found in Italy, Mexico and a number of American states, the majority of his work can be found in Texas...

 thought a stallion

Stallion

A Stallion is a male horse.Stallion may also refer to:* Stallion , an American pop rock group* Stallion , a figure in the Gobot toyline* Stallion , a character in the console role-playing game series...

 was more appropriate. Coppini said, "No hero should bestride a mare!". Therefore, Coppini added the necessary testicle

Testicle

The testicle is the male gonad in animals. Like the ovaries to which they are homologous, testes are components of both the reproductive system and the endocrine system...

s. Undergraduates from nearby University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...

 have been known to paint the testicles of the horse in the school colors of blue and white. An anonymous author wrote the "Ballad of Black Bess", which ended with:

So darkness comes to Bluegrass men —

Like darkness o'er them falls —

For well we know gentlemen should show

Respect for a lady's balls.

The Memorial was one of 60 different Civil War properties in Kentucky placed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 on the same day, July 17, 1997. Three other properties listed that day are also located in Lexington: the John C. Breckinridge Memorial

John C. Breckinridge Memorial

John C. Breckinridge Memorial, on the courthouse lawn of Lexington, Kentucky, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky MPS. It commemorates John C. Breckinridge, who had been born and died in Lexington...

, which is on the other side of the same block as the Morgan Memorial, and the Confederate Soldier Monument in Lexington

Confederate Soldier Monument in Lexington

Confederate Soldier Monument in Lexington, in Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky MPS....

 and the Ladies' Confederate Memorial

Ladies' Confederate Memorial

The Ladies' Confederate Memorial is an American Civil War monument erected in 1874 in Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky MPS...

, both in nearby Lexington Cemetery.