tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693055636846442705.post9217472281108813159..comments2024-02-21T08:35:35.568-05:00Comments on Spotsylvania Civil War Blog: A New Look at a Fredericksburg Burial TrenchJohn Cummingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15664001896165763192noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693055636846442705.post-68577768381665200172011-07-16T16:27:16.092-04:002011-07-16T16:27:16.092-04:00Thanks John. If we are using Hennessy's map a...Thanks John. If we are using Hennessy's map as a guide, I would place the white line closer to Weedon Street--nearly on top of the modern homes--rather than in the backyard of the homes, as you have it on your map.Todd Berkoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17788305909863367996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693055636846442705.post-71684014484400563822011-07-16T01:42:29.805-04:002011-07-16T01:42:29.805-04:00Todd, I don't think the swale could ever be vi...Todd, I don't think the swale could ever be viewed as a step. Although it provided a small degree of shelter, it was and is very subtle. <br />As for Noel's thoughts on the burial tench position, he places a great deal of faith in the map drawn by the member of the 53rd Pennsylvania which I have attached at the end of the post. As always, clicking on the image will allow for larger viewing.<br />My thoughts on that map, as I explain in my reply to Noel's comment, are that it depicts generalized areas and not precise ones in relation to landmarks as the Rowe house.<br /><br />JohnJohn Cummingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15664001896165763192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693055636846442705.post-38458600256332742122011-07-16T00:28:32.748-04:002011-07-16T00:28:32.748-04:00Any chance the "sudden dip" described in...Any chance the "sudden dip" described in that account is the famous "Swale"?<br /><br />Does Noel disagree with John Hennessy's map that was posted on the Mysteries and Conundrums in April 2010 that places the trench with 609 bodies between the Rowe House and the millrace (closer to the white line)? See http://npsfrsp.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/city-map-focused-on-burials-on-bloody-plain.jpgTodd Berkoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17788305909863367996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693055636846442705.post-23711513167723979952011-07-09T02:44:19.854-04:002011-07-09T02:44:19.854-04:00Patt,
Thank you for the comment. As for the appea...Patt,<br /><br />Thank you for the comment. As for the appearance of grading work on the, I assume, inline coming up from the canal, I might think it is a combination of causes. First, I think there was a heavy degree of horse drawn traffic that has gone over the area, and in wet weather, this would assure a churning of the soil and a rutting action. Combined with that disruption, there would have been most certainly a good deal of erosion going on. The individual plates, when examined, show a great amount of water pooling and erosion "rivulets" across the landscape. These photographs were taken after six or seven days of periodic heavy rain.John Cummingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15664001896165763192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693055636846442705.post-33422878663903954152011-07-09T02:26:31.839-04:002011-07-09T02:26:31.839-04:00Noel,
I appreciate your sending along the scan of...Noel,<br /><br />I appreciate your sending along the scan of the 53rd Pennsylvania member's map. My hesitance in taking it at face value is due to the overall schematic nature with which it is drawn. It does seem to take great pains at depicting the nature of the fork at the Sisson Store intersection, but it also compresses many other details leaving it in my mind unreliable as far as depicting scale and anything more than approximate distances and placement of landmarks. I agree that the large house drawn was intended to represent Rowe's but the other limitations such as the straightening of the mill race/canal and, again, compression of everything else, thinking the intend was to provide as much information as possible as to general relation to each other and not a surveyor's quality rendering.<br />I will attach a link at the end of the post for this map. As for the O'Reilly and Hennessy research and the Weedon Street stone wall, I will be interested in coming by Chatham and taking a look at their file. Going back to John Hennessy's large map project I see where as you indicate, it does dovetail with what the photograph shows, although whatever wall may have existed in December 1862, the May 1864 image suggestes it was taken down.<br />My only regret with the 1864 image is the way the 175 yards between the possible burial feature/ditch and the line of modern Littlepage is foreshortened.<br />Thanks,<br />John CummingsJohn Cummingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15664001896165763192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693055636846442705.post-74788507324210696402011-07-08T23:23:51.414-04:002011-07-08T23:23:51.414-04:00This is one of the better posts yet. I'm curr...This is one of the better posts yet. I'm currently interested in what happens right after the battles in the area, and this is golden.<br /><br />Can't wait to read more about the aftermath and unfortunate disposal of the fallen brave.Xbox OneGuidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16398527752651146160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693055636846442705.post-5681437654449735082011-07-08T18:45:17.355-04:002011-07-08T18:45:17.355-04:00john some very nice detective work here.i truely e...john some very nice detective work here.i truely enjoy reading your posts. i notice from the enlarged view of the plate that the earth has been "worked" almosted graded .would this have been done by hand or did they have a mechanical means to do this ,just wonderin. thanks pattpatthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09080090767817458166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693055636846442705.post-50195031061859536862011-07-08T17:48:07.724-04:002011-07-08T17:48:07.724-04:00John, Great eye, and great detail on that linear f...John, Great eye, and great detail on that linear feature, as always the case with your work. I’m grateful, too, for your kind words. The location given in my book for the easternmost burial trench is only an “about” estimation, but it’s based on one of the maps given in my mini-bibliography: a sketch map by a member of the 53rd Pennsylvania, which both fought-over the ground and after the battle supplied unarmed workers to dig the burial trench. I’m emailing you the map as a scan—it clearly shows, at least to my eye, the easternmost burial-trench being located between the Rowe House and Sisson’s Store (yellow line area), not between the Rowe House and the millrace (white line area). The yellow-line location might dovetail, too, with the research, by O’Reilly and Hennessy, on what appears to be a stone wall along or closely parallel to Weedon Street—a wall mentioned in at least two Federal accounts (and long enough to shelter a Federal regiment) that are quoted in the Mysteries and Conundrums blog post of July 29, 2010. If there was indeed such a wall already existing along Weedon, than it strikes me that Union troops might not have needed to dig a rifle pit slightly in advance of Weedon. But the 53rd Pennsylvania sketch map would be the main item for you to incorporate into your ongoing work on this: the map doesn’t label the Rowe House by name, but the map shows it as first dwelling west of the millrace and the largest dwelling on Hanover’s north side…pretty clear signifiers for Rowe. Another possibility to consider is that additional burial trenches, besides the two mentioned in my book, were dug in December 1862. Thanks as always for allowing me add my 2 cents. NoelAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693055636846442705.post-10464322312554937822011-07-08T17:38:57.258-04:002011-07-08T17:38:57.258-04:00john: another outstanding post. this is really int...john: another outstanding post. this is really interesting...i hope to be able to pull off this type of photographic research.John Bankshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04384617564864766357noreply@blogger.com