James Monroe Monument

James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, was born on April 28, 1758, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. While attending the College of William and Mary, he joined the struggle for independence from Great Britain and served with distinction during the Revolutionary War, fighting in six battles and being severely wounded at Trenton. Praised by George Washington for his bravery and ability, he finished the war as an aide to Governor Thomas Jefferson. Monroe spent much of his life in public service, serving in the Virginia legislature, the Continental Congress, the U.S. Senate, as Minister to France, England and Spain, as Governor of Virginia, and as Secretary of State and Secretary of War before his election as President. His two terms as President, from 1817 to 1825, were known as the Era of Good Feelings, and he remained immensely popular throughout his public career. His 1823 Monroe Doctrine on the rights of national self-determination remains a cornerstone of American foreign policy. Monroe died on July 4, 1831, in New York City, where he was living with a daughter, and was buried there. In the 1850's, Virginia requested that he be reburied in Richmond, and in 1858, the centennial of his birth, his casket was brought back to Richmond by steamboat, accompanied by New York's Seventh Regiment with impressive ceremonies in New York and Richmond. He was reburied in Hollywood Cemetery, helping ensure its prominence in Richmond. The monument erected over his grave in 1859 was designed in an ornate Gothic revival style by Richmond architect Albert Lybrock and manufactured of cast iron by Perot and Wood of Philadelphia.

Richmond, Virginia · United States