The connection between the sculptor and his subject went deeper than most artists as Ezekiel (left) was a close friend of Thomas G. Jefferson (right), a direct descendant of his namesake. The two men fought together at the Battle of New Market. Only one survived. According to Richard Lewis, author of "New Market Echoes":

One of the grievously wounded cadets lying on the soggy ground was youthful Thomas G. Jefferson, a direct descendant of President Thomas Jefferson. Hit by cannon fire and with life ebbing away, Jefferson soon found comfort in the person of his roommate, Cadet Moses Ezekiel, who had come to find him after the battle was over. Ezekiel procured a wagon and had Jefferson taken to a nearby house and placed in a bed. There he lingered for three days.  With life's energy waning away, Jefferson asked Ezekiel to read to him from the Bible. Ezekiel, the first Jewish cadet at VMI, opened the book to the New Testament and read to his friend from John 1:4, "In my Father's house there are many mansions..." As others looked on, observing Jew and Gentile united in the bond of brotherhood. Jefferson thanked his beloved friend who now held him in his arms. "Moses," he said, "it is getting darker and darker." Seventeen-year-old cadet Thomas G. Jefferson then passed on into the corps Eternal.