Update

I wonder if anyone is still reading this poor neglected blog ha ha, but on the off chance that they are I will update it

We had a nice trip to Gettysburg this past weekend. I always enjoy being up there. It for some reason seems like home. We got into town about eleven which was to early to check into the motel so we went to the Lincoln Dinner for lunch. They have a great menu and are open 24 hours a day. You can have a burger and fries for about the same price as the fast food restaurants. We had no real plans for this trip so we just did a bit of this and that. One thing I had been wanting to do for a long time was take flowers to some of the memorials and graves of my favorite people from the battle. My first stop was to the grave of Jennie Wade

I have talked about Jennie Wade before but for anyone who doesnt know she was the only civilian to be killed during the battle of Gettysburg. She died while baking bread for the soldiers by a stray bullet.Her grave
includes an American flag that flies around the clock. (The Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia is the only other site devoted to a woman to share this distinction of the perpetual flag)

My next stop was General John Reynolds. General Reynolds was the first General killed during the battle. His death came soon after the battle started and we always visit the memorial where he fell.

I was able to find red white and blue flowers and that seemed a good choice for him

Next I went out onto the battle field to the area know as the angle where Confederate Brigadier General Lewis Addison Armistead fell.

Suffering multiple wounds, the General slumped to the ground. He was later carried off to the Union's 11th Corps field hospital on the Spangler Farm where he died two days later.
I also went to this site and laid flowers both places. Red White and Blue where he fell and the purple for remembrance at the place of his death

I feel it is important to always remember these fallen heroes

* In my next post I will share my visit to the retirement home of President Eisenhower

Confederate Field Hopstials

Here are more of the beautiful homes and barns used as field hosptials in Gettysburg PA. These photos show area's used by the Confederate troops.
The land is calm now, and the homes and beautiful, but my mind is filled with the horror of what it must have been like in the days following this terrible battle. While searching on google for one of the locations I found the following article, I hope you will take a few mintues to read it.
Field Hospitals

Federal Field Hospials Gettysburg

As promised in my last post here are some photos from my recent trip to Gettysburg. These are the field hosptials we toured. You can find more information on them in the book The Complete Gettysburg Guilde by J. David Petruzzi
I have divided the slide show up into two parts. This first one is the hospitals used by the Federal troops

Endview Plantation Reenactment

Last Sunday I attended the annual Civil War Reenactment at Endview Plantation. This is an event that I have been trying to get to for years. For some reason I always seemed to miss it, so when I learned I was off on Sunday and could go I took advantage. I hope you enjoy viewing some of the photos I took

A Sunday Stroll

Happy Sunday Everyone.
I hope you all have had a nice weekend. Mine was busy. I worked yesterday and today Dean and I went with Rebecca and Cody to VA. Beach to meet up with my son. He had a rare chance to take Cody aboard a Navy Ship (photos to follow in my next post) While they were doing that Rebecca and I ran into the toy store for some ideas for Santa, then we all had lunch with my mom. Later in the day we stopped at this wonderful old cemetery in Norfolk. I had know this cemetery was there but had never been. As you can see from the photos it is very old and some of the grave go back to the mid 1860's at lest. One of the more famous graves is that of Civil War Confederate Army Officer Charles Pickett, The brother of Major General George E. Pickett,. Both Charles and George fought at Gettysburg,

Also the largest grave *as you will see in the slid show* is of  John Core. He Served with John Singleton Mosby as one of his Rangers and with the Commissary General's Office during the Civil War. After the war, he returned to Norfolk where he became a very successful farmer and businessman. He founded John H. Core & Company which were importers, manufacturers, and packing agents.
He died in 1910 leaving an estate valued at over $500,000. He would have been a multi-millionaire by today's standards. He stated in his will that he wanted a mausoleum built in Elmwood Cemetery for his remains and those of his wife, Martha Anne. The couple had no children. He set aside $100,000 for the construction of the mausoleum.
My grandson Cody (who is a big fan of Gettysburg) quickly recognized the Confederate flags that were displayed on many of the graves in the cemetery. You can even see him salute at some of the graves. I thought that was really cute.
All in all it was a good day. I hope you enjoy my slide show

So what are you thankful for

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are celebrating today. As for me I am waiting for my daughter and grandson to come pick my husband and I up. We are heading to my mom's house in VA. Beach where we will meet up with the rest family to enjoy our meal.
This year I am thankful for my family. My son is here instead of out west working. My daughter and grandson and the new little one on the way. It goes without saying I am thankful for my husband, my Mom of course (miss you daddy) my brother and his family and my sister and her husband.
I am thankful that I have a job (even if I do have to be at work at 4:45 AM tomorrow morning to face the Black Friday crowd)
In spite of my aches and pains I am thankful to be alive, to see and hear, feel and touch and enjoy the world around me.
I am thankful that we got to make TWO trips to my beloved Gettysburg PA. this year.
I have a home (though small and over priced for the neighborhood we are in)
Two cars (One which is broken down again)
My pets which bring me joy (even when they poo on the floor)
And last but not least my friends.
This list includes you dear readers for without you this blog would not exist
Enjoy your day everyone

Four Score and Seven Years

Four Score and Seven Years Ago....
Most of us reconize these words as the opening line to the famous "Gettysburg Address" given by President Abraham Lincoln , but did you know that today (Novemeber 18th) is the 146th aniveresary of that speach?

Having been invited to attend the dedication of a cememtery he stayed at the home of David Wills
When David Wills invited President Abraham Lincoln to stay in his home before the dedication of the Gettysburg military cemetery, he hardly suspected that America's most famous speech would be completed in his guest bedroom
Wills, a prosperous 32-year-old attorney, owned the largest house on the town square. Under his direction, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased 17 acres for a cemetery to honor the Union dead from the July battle. He arranged for the cemetery dedication on November 19, 1863, with Edward Everett as the main speaker. Lincoln was invited to offer "a few appropriate remarks."

Those few remarks now reamain an important part of American history.
 
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. "

If you ever get a chance to go to Gettysburg please please go the National Cemetery you will be glad you did.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Ham

Sarah was sitting on the porch; shelling the last of the peas she had picked that morning. The Georgia sun was still low in the sky, but she knew by noon it would be blazing and the dew that had been on the grass that morning would melt away to the heat of summer. She was already hot and she wiped her forehead with her apron as thought about the day ahead of her. With a sigh, She looked out onto the empty dry fields remembering a time when they had been white with cotton. Now with no one to work them they had fallen to ruin. She did manage to keep the little garden going giving herself enough to eat, but times were hard with Floyd away fighting in the war. He left her behind signing up with some of the other men in the area and promising “To be home in a few weeks”. Those weeks had turned into almost a year. Their son Early Barto (Bud) had been learning to sit up when his daddy left. Now he was walking and into everything.


Sarah took the letter she had received almost a month ago out of her pocket and read it again.


“My Darling Sarah,
I hope this letter finds you and little Bud doing well. I am fair. My bowels have been bothering me and I have not been well. I have been in the hospital in Virginia for a while now but I am getting better and will return to my unit soon. They are somewhere south of here. We can hear the cannon fire and if I look out my window I can see the campfires at night. I pray that this war will end soon and I can come home to you and little Bud. Give him a kiss for me and one for yourself.
Your loving husband
Floyd”


Sarah sighed and put the letter away. Walking into the house she took the cornbread that had been baking out of the oven and dropped the peas into the water boiling on the stove. She sewed on her quilt awhile resting and thinking of Floyd and how happy they were together before the war.



Baby Bud who was waking up from his nap interrupted her thoughts and she quickly went to him. After she had changed him and fed him some of the cornbread mashed with the juice from the peas, and a cup of milk she had got from the cow that morning she sat him on the floor to play while she ate her own meal. She sliced a tomato and ate it along with the peas and cornbread. She thought about going out to the smoke house for a ham, but then remembered she only had a few left and it was a long time until fall when the pigs could be slaughtered. She hoped she could find someone to do that for her this year but with so many of the men away that chore might fall upon her.

Sarah finished her meal and almost had the table cleared when she heard the sound of hoof beats and shouting from the road. She quickly grabbed baby Bud and ran into the yard. The rider stopped in the cloud of red dust out of breath shouting. The Yankees are coming, Not more than a mile from here. Hurry Ma’am hide, they will be here soon. With that he road off leaving her standing there. At first Sarah couldn't move, she was so frighten, then she realized she had to hurry. She ran inside with Bud telling him to sit and play, that she would be right back. She prayed he wouldn’t fall onto the stove while she was gone. The wood was still hot from the meal she had just cooked. She didn’t have time to think about that now she had to hurry.

She ran for the smoke house and took her hams down. There were two big ones and she had to carry them one at a time. She ran past the well and down the lane and into the woods. Sarah remembered where a big tree had fallen last fall when the heavy rains had come. It had rotted over the winter and now had a hollowed out place in the stump. She took the first ham hid it there and ran back for the other as fast as her legs would go. She put them both in the tree and looked around for some brush to cover it.  She then took the cow and hid it by the river, praying they wouldn't find it. Then she ran back to yard and into the house. Baby Bud was still happily playing on the floor. Just as Sarah scooped him into her arms she heard the sound of horses coming. She looked out her window. There were men all around her house now pulling into a circle under the big oak tree at the end of the yard. Sarah straightened her hair and opened the door.

Ma’am I am General Smith, and these are my men. We have been commandeered by Union Army to take food for our troops. Sarah stood silent afraid to speak and watched as the men killed her pigs and chickens. They brought them into the house and told Sarah that they need to be cooked. The men were hungry. One man pushed her aside dipping his fingers into the pot of peas she had left on the stove and helping himself to the rest of the cornbread. They opened all her jars of food, throwing them to the ground and breaking the glass as they poured the food into a pan. They took every thing she had left from last winter. They took everything from her garden. Knocking down the fence post. Tearing the door off the barn. Sarah was angry, but she was more scared. She had baby Bud to think about. Who would take care of him if anything happened to her? Sarah did what the men told her and she cooked for the men for three days and nights, sleeping little. When the men were finally gone she breathed a sigh of relief and she smiled to herself. At lest the hams were safe and Floyd would be coming home soon. After all the war couldn’t last much longer.

The End.

Floyd and Sarah

This short story is a work of fiction. However

Floyd, Sarah and baby Bud were real people.

Floyd and Sarah were my great great grandparents. Floyd did fight in the Civil war and was in the hospital in Richmond VA for most of the war with diarrhea, The Yankees did come to Floyd and Sarah’s house and Sarah was made to stay up and cook for them for the three days that they camped around an old oak tree in her front yard. She did save her cow by hiding it and her  hams by hiding them in an old tree and the men did kill all her pigs and chickens. Early Barto Barker was my great grandfather, he was born in 1861 so he was a baby during this time.

What is not known is the exact time of year that the Yankee troops were camped at Sarah house, nor how long she had to hide her things. . I do not know how many men arrived, but we do know from oral history that they stayed three days.  We do not have any letters from Floyd to Sarah so that part I made up. Along with what she thought and what she ate and so on. I have only been given oral history of the event itself so the rest of the story is fiction.

This is my first attempt at writing a short story and I hope you enjoyed it.

Treasures Galore

Sunday afternoon found me with some free time so we decided to go to one of the nearby antiques stores. I had seen this shop on my previous visits, but had not been there. I later found out it is only open on weekends so I was fortunate to find them open.


After looking around a few minutes the owner and I started chatting and the conversation lead to the history of the house and barn. Much to my surprise and embarrassment I found out that I was standing on The JacobWeikert Farm


For more information on the farm and additional photos click HERE







This home was not only used as a Civil War hospital during and after the battle, but is one of the most famous farms in the area.

I hope you will take a few minutes to read about this wonderful farm. It played an important part in the battle and I will also be telling you more about one of the young ladies from town who spend almost a week here during the battle itself in a future post.

For more information on the antique store, and photos of the inside click HERE

As I mentioned I love antiques so I did not leave empty handed. I bought an old blue medicine bottle and I also found this wonderful "treasure"



Of course you know me, so you know I had to ask if there was a ghost story. It was no surprise to me to find out that they had one.
The owner recounted one to me that involved her daughter. It seems that one day she saw an apparition of a soldier in her bedroom. Also the owner told me that on photos that she takes inside the home she always gets orbs. This again was not a surprise since the dinning room table was used for operating on the men. Arms and legs were cut off on the table and thrown outside the dinning room window
This table is now at the visitors center and I did go by to see it before I left town so I could take this photo. Sorry it is poor quality but was taken behind glass.




All in all this was one of the highlights of my week and the owners were very sweet and easy to talk to. I would recommend that if you get a chance to visit Gettysburg you drop by.
They are located on Tanneytown Road.

Walking The Charge

Day two dawned cold and clear

  After a quick breakfast we headed off to the beautiful Sachs Covered Bridge

We hung out there awhile chatting with a couple a few years old than us. They approached us asking if we had seen any ghost. We exchanged a few stories, I gave her the URL to ghost hunting blog and we moved on.  We had plans to walk the fields where Pickett's Charge took place

This is where the battle took place on the 3rd of July
While the Union lost about 1,500 killed and wounded, the Confederate casualty rate was over 50%. Pickett's division suffered 2,655 casualties (498 killed, 643 wounded, 833 wounded and captured, and 681 captured, unwounded). Pettigrew's losses are estimated to be about 2,700 (470 killed, 1,893 wounded, 337 captured). Trimble's two brigades lost 885 (155 killed, 650 wounded, and 80 captured). Wilcox's brigade reported losses of 200, Lang's about 400. Thus, total losses during the attack were 6,555, of which at least 1,123 Confederates were killed on the battlefield, 4,019 were wounded, and a good number of the injured were also captured. Confederate prisoner totals are difficult to estimate from their reports; Union reports indicated that 3,750 men were captured.

It is about one mile from the Virginia Monument side to the Pennsylvania side. We had just arrived back when we saw this group of Scouts getting ready to walk across.

We watched them awhile then headed off to do other things

Apples, Battlefields and Ghost OH MY!

I took half a day off today so that I could finish getting ready for my upcoming trip this weekend.  I think I have almost everything packed and ready for the car. I've been undecided as to what to take to wear while I am in Gettysburg. The weather is going to be cooler than I am use to, but I don't want to dress to warm and be uncomfortable the entire time. I finally settled on both jeans and Capri pants, and added both long sleeve, three quarter sleeves and short sleeves along with a sweat shirt and light weight jacket. I know I have to much packed, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
I still have a few little things to gather up but for the most part I am finished. We won't talk about my husband but I will tell you that he doesn't have the first thing packed and has to do his laundry yet. It's ok though he has off tomorrow. I on the other hand am working 11-8, which is one reason why I was off this afternoon. I don't want to be running around here at the last minute trying to finish up.
I have to tell you that I am excited, and if you have ever read this blog more than once you know by now that Gettysburg is probably my favorite place on earth.  I love not only the history but the town itself.  As I mentioned in my previous post we plan on going to the Apple Harvest Festival on Saturday.  Since this also is my birthday we may find a nice out of the way place for dinner. Some time on Sunday I plan on walking the field at Picketts Charge, where the last fight of this battle took place.  I tried walking all the way across on my first trip and was over come with emotion and had to turn around. I am determined this time I will make the one mile walk. (My header photo was taken in this field). If all turns out as planned we are going to try and hook up with a blogger friend of mine from Are We There Yet? for a ghost walk on Sunday night. She has a couple of things going on during the day, but if she makes it in town in time we will hook up. If not we hope to still meet the next day. I think it would be fun to put a face with the words so I hope things work out to meet her.
Anyway this is my last post for awhile but don't worry. I will be back late next week full of stories and photo's so be sure and come back by. In the mean time I am leaving you with a bit of Triva on Gettysburg. Enjoy your week everyone.



Facts about Gettysburg Monuments



1. Which state has the most monuments on the battlefield?

New York, New York has a total of 128 and Pennsylvania is a close second with 123.


2. How many Equestrian Memorials are there dedicated to generals on the battlefield?

Seven. There are memorials to Generals Sedwick, Hancock, Howard, Slocum, Reynolds, Meade and Longstreet.


3. True or False, Gettysburg has more mounuments than any other battlefield.

 True  At last count there were 1,340 monuments. The reason for this is quite simple. In the days following the battle, those immediately touched by the death of fallen loved ones and the nation needed a way to express thier grief. Nothing as devastating had happened to the young nation and monuments were a way of showing honor. Also, the battle took place in the midst of the Victorian Age, a time when death was a morbid fascination.


4. What was the cost of the Virginia State Monument?

50,000. The Virginia State monument was dedicated on June 8, 1917 and unveiled by Miss Virgina Carter, a niece of General Lee.


5. In what year was the first Confederate monument placed on the battlefield?
 1917.  The first Confederate monument was from the state of Virginia. With the completion of the Tennessee State Memorial in 1982 each southern state was at last represented.


6. Which state has the names of all the soldiers who participated in the battle contained on bronze markers around the base of the monument?

 Pennsylvania  The height of the Pennsylvania monument is 110 feet. The base of the monument is 80 feet square and has a height of 9 feet. Around the base, and on the inner walls of the arches, are placed bronze tablets on which are recorded the names of 34,530 officers and enlisted men of Pennsylvania who participated in the battle. The monument cost $150,000 and was dedicated September 27, 1910."

7. Which state monument has the inscription "Your names are inscribed on fame's immortal scroll"?

 Alabama  Dedicated in 1933, the monument stands near the spot where Law's Alabama Brigade began its attack on Little Round Top on July 2, 1863.

8. Which state monument was added in 1929 to pay tribute to the 41 units that participated in the great campaign into Pennyslvania?

North Carolina  The North Carolina state monument was designed by famous sculptor Gutzon Borglum.


9. On what anniversary of the battle was the Eternal Light Peace Memorial dedicated?

75th. The Eternal Light Peace Memorial was dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 3, 1938. This was the last Joint Reunion of the blue and gray; this memorial was an enduring reminder of "Peace Eternal in a Nation United". A sodum vapor lamp, which replaced the original natural gas flame, burns 24 hours a day as a sign of the commitment by the two sections to coexist as one nation.

10. The 11th Pennsylvania volunteers monument has a bronze likeness of what?
: A dog The name of the dog was Sallie. On the field during and after the battle of Gettysburg, the dog stayed with the regiment's dead and wounded. After Lee's army retreated from Gettysburg on July 4th, members of the 12th Massachusetts found her still alive. The dog was weak from lack of food and water. Sallie was unfortunately shot and killed during the fighting on Feb. 6, 1865 at Hatcher's Run VA.

11. The Virginia State Monument has a statue of General Robert E. Lee astride his favorite horse Traveller at the top. What did the sculptor use as a model for the horse?

Sculptor Frederick Sievers travelled to Washington and Lee University in Virginia to study the skeleton of Traveller on display there. A live horse, matching the shape and size of Traveller was then used as the actual model

More interesting tidbits about the battle

Several companies of black emergency volunteer militiamen were raised in Pennsylvania during the Confederate invasion. One of these saw action, when it was put into the lines with the 27th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia at Wrightsville, on 27 June. The company, about 100 men organized at Columbia, suffered one man killed before Union forces were withdrawn across the Susquehanna, whereupon the Columbia bridge was burned.

Russel C. Mitchell, who fought at the Devil's Den and the foot of Little Round Top on 2 July as first sergeant of Company I, 1st Texas Infantry, a part of Robertson's brigade of Hood's division, was the grandfather of Margaret Mitchell, who wrote Gone With the Wind.

The dubious honor of being the first Union soldier to die in the Battle of Gettysburg apparently belongs to Cpl. Cyrus W. James, CompanyG, 9thNewYorkCavalry, while the equally dubious honor of being the first Confederate soldier to fall probably beongs to Pvt. Henry Raison of the 7th Tennessee Infantry.

When his brigade surrendered on 1 July, Brig. Gen. James J. Archer --the first of Lee's generals ever captured-- was brought to see Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday, who had been Archer's classmate at West Point. The latter greeted him in a friendly manner, saying, "Good morning, Archer. How are you? I'm glad to see you," to which the unchastened Rebel replied, "Well, I am not glad to see you by a damned sight!"

As Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell stood observing the attack of his II Corps on the afternoon of 1 July, he was struck in the leg by a musket ball and knocked down. His aides rushed to his side, fearing the worst. But the general just picked himself up, saying "I'm not hurt." Then he smiled, adding, "But suppose that ball had struck you? We would have had the trouble of carrying you off the field, sir. You see how much better fixed for a fight I am than you are. It don't hurt a bit to be shot in a wooden leg."

On 3 July Lt. Col. Johnathan Lockwood, commanding the 7th West Virginia captured his own nephew, who had been wounded leading part of the 7th Virginia at the climax of the Confederate assault on Cemetery Ridge.

During the three days of the Battle of Gettysburg an estimated 566 tons of ammunition were expended, amounting to about 24 pounds for each casualty on both sides.

On the 4th of July, as the two armies lay glaring at each other across the bloody fields between Cemetery Ridge and Seminary Ridge, Robert E. Lee's pet hen caused a minor command flap. It seems that the bird, who rode in Lee's headquarters wagon and was wont to lay an egg under his cot every morning, thereby providing his breakfast, managed to get lost. Perhaps fearful that his little pet had ended up in someone's cook pot, Lee ordered a search. After a short time, the bird was found and returned to her proper place and Lee got back to contemplating his next move.

As the Confederate troops were falling back from "Pickett's Charge" at Gettysburg, British observer Lt. Col. James Fremantle said "I wouldn't have missed this for anything," to which Lt. Gen. James Longstreet replied "The devil you wouldn't! I would like to have missed it very much . . . !"

Union cavalryman Elon Farnsworth's promotion to brigadier general came so unexpectedly that he had to borrow a suitable uniform from Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasanton, which he was wearing when killed at Gettysburg four days later on 3 July 1863.

While enduring the Confederate bombardment atop Cemetery Ridge on the third day of Gettysburg, Union Brig. Gen. John Gibbon may perhaps have received some satisfaction from knowing that the enemy was using his The Artillerist's Manual as their basic handbook.

During the Gettysburg Campaign Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, reasoned that a good deal of money could be saved if the army did not supply uniforms to the many miliatiamen and volunteers who turned out to help stem Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania, since the emergency was certain to be over before their own clothing wore out: Lincoln demurred, however, and the men got their uniforms anyway.

As a result of an argument over who's battery had precedence on the line of march, Capt. Pichegru Woolfolk, Jr., of Virginia's Ashlad Battery, was challenged to a duel with rifles at 15 paces by Capt. George W. Moody, of Louisiana's Madison Light Artillery; Alas for honor, the expected encounter never took place, for the Battle of Gettysburg interfered in the arrangements. Although both survived, the battle neither ever met the other again.

When Lee conferred with Ewell and Early on the morning of 2 July, they did so in the Adams County Prison on High Street in Gettysburg, which is now a library.

When Confederate artillery bombarded Wrightsville on 27 June, the only two structures seriously damaged were the offices of the "Sons of Temperance" and those of the "Native American Party" [i.e.,the "Know Nothings"], a matter which some took as a sign from heaven.

Ohhh Books!

In spite of my last post I did get a nice surpise in the mail.
My buddy Jazz at October Farm knows what a big Civil War fan I am and send them this wonderful package in the mail. Not one but TWO great books.


Look at the pretty paper and bow she used.


Notice the cats like to read too.




I can't wait to read them.
THANKS JAZZ!!

Trip out of town

I almost forgot that we did go out of town a couple of weeks ago. We went to Richmond Va. and visited the Hollywood Cemetery. I have been there a couple of times and really enjoy going and rambling around the old grave stones. This trip we went with a purpose in mind. To find the graves of the Confederate Dead who were killed in the Battle Of Gettysburg.
The first thing you see when arriving in that area is This...

It is a 90 ft pyramid, completed in 1869, it serves as a monument to 18,000 confederate soldiers buried nearby.

As I mentioned I was anxious to see the graves of the men from Gettysburg, so we went in search of those.


One of the most famous of those being General George Pickett

Seeing all these men really stuck a place in my heart. All of you know how much I love Gettysburg and knowing that these men have a resting place was very rewarding.
(The Confederates killed at Gettysburg were left there for months and sometimes years in mostly unmarked graves, until they were finally removed and put in cemeteries down south such as this one)
Most of the graves in this area of Hollywood Cemetery are marked unknown



And looking out over all the Confederate graves was a bit overwhelming

This is just a few of those graves. I have lots more photos but won't bore you with all of them.




















Also the same day we went to the cemetery we visited Berkley Plantation and I will tell you about it in my next post.