Quantico's Marine Basic School Visits Chancellorsville Battlefield, 3-22-12, A Photo Essay

     The current class of newly commissioned United States Marine Corps officers visited the Chancellorsville Battlefield on March 22, led by one of the expert historians from the Marine Corps University. During the twenty-six week long Basic School, or TBS, the new officers are provided with extensive classroom, field, and practical application training on subjects ranging from weapons and tactics to leadership and protocol. The TBS mission statement explains they will "Train and educate newly commissioned or appointed officers in the high standards of professional knowledge, esprit de corps, and leadership in order to prepare them for duty as company grade officers in the operating forces, with particular emphasis on the duties, responsibilities and warfighting skills required of a rifle platoon commander."

 After their tour the class had an opportunity to relax and check out the Visitor Center.

Many visited the site of General Stonewall Jackson's mortal

 wounding and associated monuments and markers.

They were particularly interested in the circumstances that led

 to Jackson being accidentally fired on by his own men.

The discussions continued on the front lawn at CVC.

Support vehicles followed the convoy of six buses, as seen below.

The Visitor Center picnic area served their needs at lunch time.

They were very impressed with the battlefield and the park's interpretive signs.

This display of Civil War artillery projectiles got a lot of attention.

Around 1:30 PM, it was back to the bus convoy for the return trip to Quantico.



Along the North Anna River - Then and Now

     See revised thoughts on this image in my May 25, 2016 post.

Click here for the direct link.

     The 20th Annual Meeting of the Civil War Fortification Study Group provided a rare opportunity for members to visit the site of one of the Civil War's rare images of entrenched soldiers during an active campaign. This was originally a Confederate fortification, known as Henagan's Redoubt, which served as a means of protecting the north shore approach to the North Anna River at the Chesterfield Bridge crossing of the Telegraph Road. This vital position was captured by Hancock's Union forces on the evening of May 23rd, 1864. The photograph below was taken by Timothy O'Sullivan on May 25th, as the armies glowered at each other. By this time the works were occupied by men of Burnside's Ninth Corps. The next day the Union army, having tired of what was essentially another stalemate similar to their experiences of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, pull out and swing to the left in their continuous effort to get closer to Richmond. The fields around Cold Harbor awaited them.

Union forces occupy Henagan's Redoubt overlooking the North Anna River.

March 10, 2012, the silent position is now overgrown.

A member of the C.W.F.S.G. stands at right of center to provide scale.  

NOTICE: This is private property, DO NOT TRESPASS.

Gettysburg's Harvest of Death - The Trump Card?

     Be sure to visit the October 12, 2012 post by clicking here.

 It contains the most current information.

Also updated in the body of this post below. See red text.

     Yesterday, in a comment to my initial post on the Harvest of Death images, blog reader Phil Spaugy said...

"The problem I have with this view, is the lack of confederate dead, or the signs of freshly dug graves."

     This is a very good point, and one that I had not given much thought to during my examinations of these images since my concentration has been, till now, on the exposures taken by Timothy O'Sullivan which include what I believe is the Thompson house on the north side of Chambersburg Road, rather than the James Gibson exposures which do not include the house. The O'Sullivan images suffer from an as of yet firmly explained lack of strong detail beyond the fence running across the middle ground. This fence is what I consider to be the northernmost of two fences that contained a field running roughly northwest to southeast, toward Seminary Ridge, from the woodlot where General Reynolds was killed on July 1, 1863. Now, looking at the Gibson exposures, I notice that the area beyond this fence is a slight bit richer in detail than O'Sullivan's, and seems to contain what may be the solidifying clue to this series' location.

     Mr. Spaugy's point is well taken, and I answered his comment by pointing out the lack of detail where the graves of the Confederates should be, simply based on the O'Sullivan exposures, however, now considering the Gibson exposures, I believe we have indication of the Confederate burials right where they should be. I had also suggested that the Confederate dead had been buried in the days following the fight on Seminary Ridge as the ground remained under Confederate control. The Union dead were left in situ after being relieved of usable clothes, valuables and equipment. A print from the Library of Congress collection is seen below.

The contrast is sharper and the details stronger in this print of James Gibson's exposure.

 An enlargement of the middle area of the above print reveals a potential clue...

 A white balance adjustment provides somewhat better contrast within the detail...

 Beyond the fence pile, running at a diagonal, as indicated by the annotating arrow, are we able to see crudely marked grave rows? Elliott's burial map places graves within this proposed field of view.

Continuing right, along with the possible graves, are we also able to see a breastwork, or more graves? Based on Elliott's map, these would all be Confederate burials.

Update: 2/25/2013, based on more current consideration, the suggested "breastwork" noted above, may in fact be the Chambersburg Pike and a few visible fence posts. This study continues to be fluid.

Note the similarity of crudely marked graves from this 1866 image taken near the Wilderness Battlefield. This image and its location are examined in this blog's previous post from 2-29-12.

Hospital Burial Site on the Carpenter Farm Located. Wilderness Battlefield. Then and Now...

THEN

     The photograph above is from the series made under the direction of Union Surgeon, Dr. Reed Bontecou in April 1866. It is identified as showing graves of Union dead on the James Carpenter Farm, near the Wilderness Battlefield. Only one grave marker appears to bear a name, that of Sgt. Richard Ross of the 40th New York Infantry. All images are clickable for greater detail.

NOW

     The 40th New York was in the 3rd Division of the 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac. Utilizing a hand-drawn map of the 2nd Corps hospital site, supplied by NPS Historian Don Pfanz, and assumed to be from the National Archives collection, your blog host was able to place the vicinity of the four divisions on the modern landscape. After studying the topographic features in the area of the 3rd Division, I was able to find the burial location photographed in 1866, still looking very much as it did then. The bodies had been removed prior to 1876 and reinterred in Fredericksburg on Willis Hill, in the National Cemetery. The hospital site is now the home of the Spotsylvania chapter of the Izaak Walton League. 

     In November of 2010, NPS Historian John Hennessy wrote a blog feature on Mysteries and Conundrums, which examined the original photograph. In a comment I submitted to that post, I speculated that the burial site would probably be in the range of 75 yards from the road. The location turned out to be about 112 yards from the main road, but alongside what appeared to be a slight road cut within the property. 

                               Aerial map of the former Carpenter Farm on Herndon Road, near

the Wilderness battlefield, approximately two miles northeast from where

 the 40th was engaged and Sgt. Ross would have been wounded.

I have indicated the area where each division treated their wounded, as

 well as the burial area for the 3rd Division, in the upper right, marked "graves".

Note: This land is PRIVATE PROPERTY, do not trespass.

Seen above is a document from the widow's petition for pension filed by Eliza Ross,

 October 14, 1864. She would receive eight dollars per month. Ross also left

 behind a daughter, Catherine, not yet two years old when her father fell.

The detail above is from the previous document.

The Ross residence, at 36 Pitt St., in New York City, was likely cleared away for construction

 of the Williamsburg Bridge, begun in 1896. The area today, as seen below at the corner of

 Delancey Street South, retains no resemblance to its 19th century appearance.

A close-up detail of the original marker for Sgt. Richard Ross.

Your blog host recently visited the Fredericksburg National Cemetery

 to pay respects at the relocated grave of Sgt. Richard Ross, number 3994.

ROSS, RICHARD. Age 30 years at enlistment. Enlisted in Brooklyn, and mustered in on Oct. 24, 1861, as a Private in Co. H, 87th N. Y. Inf. Transferred, Sept. 6, 1862, to Co. K, 40th N. Y., the Mozart Regiment. Captured on May 2, 1863, at Chancellorsville, and paroled Oct. 9, 1863. Promoted to Sergeant in Co. C, upon re-enlistment as a veteran, Dec. 29, 1863. Wounded in action, May 5, 1864 in the Wilderness, and died of wounds at the Carpenter Farm Hospital site, May 9, 1864. Buried initially on the hospital site and eventually reinterred in the National Cemetery at Fredericksburg, Va.

     The vicinity of the fighting where Sgt. Ross was likely wounded, south of the Orange Plank Road.

 The view looks southwest from the Union position, toward the advance of McGowan's South

 Carolinians, followed, to the viewer's left, by Scales' North Carolinians. 



Gettysburg's "Harvest of Death" correction to post of 2-18-12

Notice: Be sure to go back to the post of a few days previous by clicking here. Incorrect material had been added by your blog host in a premature effort to fill in some blanks. As I point out within the correction, "Haste makes waste."

Many thanks to my friends and loyal readers for keeping me on track. It was a close call.

Stay vigilant!

Worth A Thousand Words - An Image of Development

This simple stone marker was placed in 1903 by former Confederate staff officer James Power Smith. It marks the location of famed Major John Pelham's daring action, with a single cannon, against advancing Federal forces during the battle of Fredericksburg. The stone once stood more directly placed, along the road, facing the other direction, until moved further into this corner lot due to development pressures. Seen across the intersection is the ground over which the Federal advance came, as well as the challenging fire of over two dozen Union cannon. Pelham and his gun crew held this position for over an hour before finally withdrawing when ammunition was running out.

The portrait of John Pelham at right was taken when he was 16. He was barely three months into his 24th year during the battle of Fredericksburg. Three months later he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Kelly's Ford, Virginia, on March 17, 1863. His body was returned to his home state of Alabama and is buried in the Jacksonville City Cemetery.

Click map to enlarge for greater detail.

The aerial map above shows the Pelham marker site (bottom right) as it sits today among residential and commercial development. The red line indicates the direction of fire from Pelham's cannon as the Union advance of thousands of infantry swept toward the Old Richmond Stage Road, modern day Tidewater Trail, Route 2. Union artillery, situated near the large, white roofed building, returned fire, unable to dislodge the Confederate nuisance. The one acre strip of land running southwest of the marker has been preserved by the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust since 2007. As of this writing, the larger commercial building below the marker sits vacant, the victim of direct competition from rival businesses across the street, directly in the line of Pelham's fire.

Spotsylvania's 23rd USCTs Making the Rounds During Black History Month

The reorganized 23rd United States Colored Troops have had a full schedule thus far during the 2012 Black History Month. Last Saturday, members turned out to present a program at the Germanna Community College, which featured the 23rd's very own Lt. Jimmy Price, speaking on the Battle of New Market Heights. Afterwards, members toured the remains of Confederate entrenchments on the grounds of the College. These works had been featured in a blog post here, on July 11, 2010.

Atop the former Confederate defensive works at Germanna Ford.

From left to right, Regimental Chaplain Hashmel Turner,

 Corporal Steward Henderson, Captain John Cummings,

 and Medical Steward Kevin Williams.

The 23rd's "Abolitionist Senator", James Anderson,

and special guest speaker, Denise Benedetto.

Corporal Henderson answers questions for a reporter on Sunday,

February 12, before a service and presentation on the history of

the 23rd USCTs, at the Bethel Baptist Church near Culpeper, Virginia.

The 23rd's Chaplain, Reverend Hashmel Turner, gave the day's sermon.

You are invited to a CONVERSATION,

Saturday, Feb 25, 2012, at 12 noon.

“Bridging the Chasm: A Public Conversation about Freedom,

 the Civil War, and its Complicated Legacy”

Our Guest Speaker: John Hennessy, Chief Historian
 of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park

hosted by the

John J. Wright Museum, and the 23rd Regiment United States Colored Troops

7565 Courthouse Rd, Spotsylvania, VA 22551-2706

This event is one of several in the 2012, 23rd Regiment U. S. Colored Troops Lecture Series. It is free and open to the public, and supported in part by a grant from Spotsylvania County Government.
For more information, call (540) 582-7583, ext 5545 or on the web at http://www.jjwmuseum.org/
 

We hope to see you there.



Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign. Spotsylvania Park Border Signs. A Photo Essay.

Confederate trench, running directly along a southern boundary, below Landrum Ridge.

Notice: Neighboring property is heavily posted at right.

A type of sign-eating tree.

An old, metal boundary marker on a now dead tree.

The neighbors are serious. Read the hand written notation.

Another border marker on a soon to collapse, dead tree.

Yet another sign-eating tree.

They start young back in these woods.

Your blog host, standing on a southeast boundary corner.

An interesting pile in front of the tree at right distance...

Discarded or abused?

A sign once hung here.

Boundary and detailed notice signs share a tree along an eastern border.

Heed the warning! You will be prosecuted.

IT IS UNLAWFUL TO - injure, excavate, or appropriate any historic or prehistoric ruin, monument, object of antiquity or of scientific interest without specific authority by the Secretary of the Interior.