BALTIMORE—This city removed several Confederate monuments before dawn Wednesday in a stealth operation that highlights the growing backlash against such memorials across the country.

“I said I would move as quickly as I could, and I did,” Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, a Democrat, said in an interview. “We didn’t need those kinds of symbols.”

The city’s unannounced action came just days after last weekend’s violent clashes in Charlottesville, Va., where white supremacists gathered in protest of that city’s plan to take down a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

In a combative press conference on Tuesday, President Donald Trump referenced the "alt-left" and blamed "both sides" for the violence in Charlottseville, Va. Here are the key moments. Photo: Getty

In the aftermath of the weekend’s events that left one woman dead, some elected officials have taken a tougher stance against monuments dedicated to those who led the fight to secede in the Civil War.

“We cannot continue to glorify a war against the United States of America fought in the defense of slavery,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said in a statement as he called for the repeal of a 2015 state law that prevents the removal of such monuments. “These monuments should come down.”


Monument defenders said the statues are testaments to Southern bravery and an important part of the region’s past. Some are pushing back against politicians who want them to come down, as well as activists seeking to topple statues themselves.

“It’s discouraging and it’s heartbreaking,” said David Nash, chairman of the Sunshine State Heritage PAC, which backs candidates who support keeping up Confederate monuments.

Mr. Nash, who is 49 and lives in Pembroke Pines, Fla., drew a line from the Confederacy to the nation from which it was trying to secede. “Pretty soon, you’re not going to be able to fly an American flag anymore,” he said.

For years, these monuments have given rise to debates, with preservationists arguing that taking them down erases history, while opponents have said they represent white supremacy and a history of subjugating African-Americans. After the mass murder of nine parishioners in South Carolina in 2015 by white supremacist Dylann Roof, momentum against Confederate flags and imagery gained steam, but has since faced pushback in several places.

Other Flashpoints The American Indian Caucus of the Montana Legislature has called for the removal of the Confederate Memorial Fountain in Helena, Mont. , the only such public monument in the state, according to Rep. Shane Morigeau.

, the only such public monument in the state, according to Rep. Shane Morigeau. Hollywood Forever Cemetery, a Los Angeles landmark, removed a monument commemorating Confederate soldiers. The stone and bronze monument has stood since 1925 in the graveyard, where more than 30 Confederate soldiers are also buried.

landmark, removed a monument commemorating Confederate soldiers. The stone and bronze monument has stood since 1925 in the graveyard, where more than 30 Confederate soldiers are also buried. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. has called for the removal of the busts of Gens. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson from the “Hall of Fame for Great Americans” on the campus of Bronx Community College .

. Hudson’s Bay Co. removed a plaque honoring the former president of the Confederate states, Jefferson Davis, from its department store in downtown Montreal . The plaque had adorned the wall of the store for 60 years, marking his 1867 visit to the city.

. The plaque had adorned the wall of the store for 60 years, marking his 1867 visit to the city. A plaque honoring Jefferson Davis was removed from Horton Plaza Park in San Diego Wednesday. City Councilman Christopher Ward said in a tweet, “Monuments to bigotry have no place in #SanDiego - or anywhere!” Source: WSJ Research

In Birmingham, Ala., a Confederate memorial—a large, stone obelisk in a downtown park—was boxed in with wooden boards Tuesday to partially block it from view on the orders of the city’s Democratic mayor. The steps were taken to avoid violating a new Alabama law that prohibits taking down monuments.


The monument “symbolized a treasonous act to justify racial oppression of a people,” Mayor William Bell said in an interview, adding the city is exploring options to challenge the law in court.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, sued the city and mayor in a county circuit court Wednesday for allegedly violating the new state law by obscuring the monument. The mayor’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Most Confederate monuments were erected decades after the Civil War and often went beyond venerating Confederate dead to honoring the larger Confederate cause, said Fitz Brundage, chairman of the history department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Photos: Across the South, Confederate Statues Become Targets VIEW Photos A protester in Durham, N.C., kicked the toppled statue of a Confederate soldier after it was pulled down on Monday. Casey Toth, The Herald-Sun/Associated Press

The earliest monuments—from the late 1860s to around 1890—were typically placed in cemeteries to mourn Confederate soldiers. That changed at the end of the 19th century, he said.


“The monuments are a component of the campaign to establish white supremacy in the South,” he said. “Some are very overtly so.”

The debate over Baltimore’s monuments grew after the South Carolina church massacre in 2015. A Baltimore city commission recommended removing two monuments last year, but city officials were stumped when Confederate groups said they either couldn’t afford to take them or didn’t want them moved.

Although Maryland remained in the Union during the Civil War, it was a slave state, and Baltimore was home to many ardent secessionists.

Private contractors hired by Baltimore began working around midnight and finished after 5 a.m., hauling three large monuments out of town on flatbed trucks. They also took down a statue of Roger B. Taney, a former U.S. Chief Justice who, while not a Confederate himself, wrote the proslavery Dred Scott decision in 1857.


One goal, said the mayor, was to avoid demonstrations by those who wanted to see the monuments remain. Ms. Pugh said she didn’t know yet what would happen to the monuments. Her spokesman said a working group has been formed to entertain suggestions and proposals in the coming weeks.

A monument dedicated to the Confederate Women of Maryland lies on a flatbed trailer early Wednesday after it was taken down in Baltimore. Photo: Jerry Jackson/Associated Press

On Monday, the Baltimore City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for the immediate destruction of all Confederate monuments in the city. On social media, some had promised to take the statues down themselves.

One of the now-removed monuments—honoring Lee and fellow Confederate general Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson—was dedicated in 1948 on park land near Johns Hopkins University. Records show the statue was financed by a banker who saw the men as childhood heroes.

The monument bore new graffiti Tuesday that said “Remember C-Ville,” and “Black Lives Matter.” On Wednesday, after it had been removed, all that remained was a large stone pedestal with an etching that said: “So great is my confidence in General Lee that I am willing to follow him blind-folded.”

—Jennifer Levitz contributed to this article.

Write to Scott Calvert at scott.calvert@wsj.com and Jon Kamp at jon.kamp@wsj.com