As previously installed, the inscription on the south-facing side below the medallion read, "The brazen lips of Southern cannon thundered an unanswered anthem to the God of Battle".

The northern face was decorated with an anchor, and read, "It was given the genius and valor of Confederate seamen to revolutionize naval warfare over the earth".

Below the writing, another inscription says, "This stone shall crumble into dust ere the deathless devotion of Southern women be forgotten".

The west side inscription was below an engraving of crossed swords and read, "The Confederate sabreur kissed his blade homeward riding on into the mouth of hell".

The east side was decorated with crossed rifles, and read, "Confederate infantry drove bayonets through columns that never before reeled to the shock of battle".

[10] The dedication of the monument on April 29, 1897[11] was attended by thousands, with hundreds of Confederate veterans, including Colonel William Lyne Crawford[10] and Texas governor Charles Allen Culberson.

[13] Her position in that office at that time may account for the inclusion of the marble bas relief roundel portrait bust of her father, William Lewis Cabell, on the south side of the monument base.

[12] In 2017, the controversial Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, prompted the removal of Confederate monuments in various southern cities, and then-Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings called for a task force to decide what to do with the memorial.

[1] On July 1, 2019, Appeals Court Justice Bill Whitehall sided with Return to Lee Park and issued an order indefinitely blocking the memorial's removal until the dispute is resolved.

[17] Protests in other cities focused on destroying or defacing Confederate monuments, and on June 11, 2020, the city filed an emergency motion with the Court of Appeals asking for immediate permission to remove the War Memorial, citing the possibility of serious injury to protesters if the monument were to be toppled during a planned rally at the site.