My good friend and Schuylkill County Civil War Historian Stu Richards has posted an excellent account of the 48th's last battle at Fort Mahone, Petersburg, on April 2, 1865.
Click here.
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Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Day Trip To Hollywood Cemetery
Took a road trip yesterday with my friend and fellow ranger Mannie Gentile. Over the past four years, we have taken several Civil War-focused day trips (to Manassas, South Mountain, Gettysburg, Washington and so on), and yesterday decided that our next will be down to Lexington, Virginia, with a stop at the New Market Battlefield on the way back. But that's in the future; now, back to yesterday. The trip began early, really early. Rolling out of bed at 4:00 a.m., I picked up Mannie at 5:40 and we hit the road, ultimately covering more than 450 miles. It's funny how so much time in a car makes one exhausted. Traveling down 270 to 95 South, we got off at the Falmouth Exit, passed through the Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Wilderness Battlefields to our first stop. . .Todd's Tavern. Phil Sheridan's failure to open the road to Spotsylvania on the night of May 7-8, 1864, meant that Lee's Army of Northern Virginia arrived at the Courthouse first, winning the foot race, with Richard Anderson's First Corps setting up a line of defense on Laurel Hill. The opposing armies would remain locked in a fierce struggle at Spotsylvania for the next two weeks. Meanwhile, Sheridan earned the wrath of General George Meade who, following Grant's instruction, detached Sheridan with 10,000 troopers in an effort to destroy Jeb Stuart's vaunted Confederate cavalry. Mannie and I followed in the hoof prints of Sheridan's troopers, for the most part, as they headed south toward Richmond.
Driving down the Jefferson Davis Highway (Route 1), our next stop was at Massapanox Baptist Church, site of the Grant/Meade council of war captured in the famous photographs of Timothy O'Sullivan.


This was the first time Mannie and I were here, so we were sure to follow O'Sullivan's example and snap a number of photographs.
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We continued south on Route 1 all the way to Richmond. After a frustrating search, complete with many turn-arounds and numerous inquiries as to its location (all to no avail), we finally located the site of the battle of Yellow Tavern. On May 11, 1864, a trooper from Michigan made good on Sheridan's promise when he shot Jeb Stuart, mortally wounding the famed Confederate cavalier. Stuart died the next day in Richmond, as Sheridan's men turned eastward, luring the Confederate horsemen to more destruction.
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After dodging all the traffic around the Yellow Tavern battlefield, Mannie and I next headed into Richmond to spend the late morning and early afternoon hours tramping around the incredible Hollywood Cemetery. My parents took me to Richmond when I was a kid, so this was my second visit to the famed cemetery. It is truly a remarkable place, which I am sure I will visit again.
The Hollywood Cemetery is the final resting place for many Confederate notables, including the first and only President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, and his wife, First Lady Varina Howell Davis .
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A veritable Who's Who of the Confederacy are buried within the walls of the Hollywood Cemetery; many well known, many more not so well known, including Robert H. Chilton, Adjutant General of the Army of Northern Virginia. On September 9, 1862, in Frederick, Maryland, Chilton penned the copies of Special Orders No. 191. . .one too many copies, as it turned out.

The grave of Robert H. Chilton is in the background, his gravestone in the shape of a cross. The cross in the foreground marks the final resting place of Chilton's son-in-law, Confederate General Peyton Wise.
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Not far from the grave of Robert Chilton is the Confederate Officer's Section, marked with this stone arch. . .
Within this rather small section lie three better-known generals:


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Jeb Stuart's grave in the Hollywood is no doubt among the most visited. Stuart died on May 12, 1864, on day after falling mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern. His beloved wife, Flora Cooke, was later buried by his side.

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Hundreds of Confederate dead surround this impressive stone monument, mostly those killed during the battles around Richmond.
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Major General George Pickett is another Confederate notable buried at Hollywood. . .his grave overlooks those who fell during his futile attack at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863.


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The graves of Edwin Starke (left) and his dad, General William Starke.
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For all the history that lies buried within the gates of Hollywood Cemetery, it is also a remarkable place to see some incredible and haunting statuary decorating the gravesites.
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Perhaps the most famous "residents" of Hollywood Cemetery are not the military and political leaders of the Confederacy, but two Presidents of the United States. . .

5th President of the United States
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And, Tyler, too!

10th President of the United States
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