This statue of George Washington was made from a cast of the original marble statute carved by Antoine Houdon in 1796 for the State of Virginia, now located in the rotunda of the Virginia State Capital in Richmond. It was the only statue Washington ever posed for in his life and at his insistence it is life size. South Carolina acquired this bronze copy in 1858.
During Sherman’s occupation of Columbia, soldiers threw objects at the statue and broke off the lower portion of the walking stick. After the war, it was repaired but was removed by local citizens who wanted to show the Yankees in their “true light.” The lower portion is now on display at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum
