Secrets of a Cemetery, Part VIII: Final Reflections

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Secrets of a Cemetery, Part VIII: Final Reflections

With all the research that has been done on the Civil War, at times it seems as if the individual is lost in the seas of voices, stories, and statistics.  Armies are huge entities, regiments move like blocks on a map, and the individual experience is lost.  I found that when looking at a cemetery or even during Memorial Day events, the whole scope of death and devastation was apparent as one took in the rows of uniform graves, but there was no deeper connection to the lives and deaths of the men sleeping below our feet.

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Secrets of a Cemetery, Part VII: Beyond the Civil War

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Secrets of a Cemetery, Part VII: Beyond the Civil War

The National Cemetery at Fredericksburg contains more than just Civil War burials.  Yes, the vast majority of soldiers buried there fought between 1861 and 1865, but veterans of the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II are also buried within the cemetery.

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Secrets of a Cemetery, Part VI: Nobody was Untouched by the Civil War

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Secrets of a Cemetery, Part VI: Nobody was Untouched by the Civil War

Every grave in the national cemetery represents a story of service and struggle, but they also represent the impact of loss on a wide scale.  A soldier is one person, but think of the web of connections each had in their lives.  Every grave also represents loss for a mother, a father, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, wives, extended family, and friends. 

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Secrets of a Cemetery, Part V: A Brother's War

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Secrets of a Cemetery, Part V: A Brother's War

The Civil War is often called a war of brother against brother.  Imagery of American fighting American and family fighting family during the war arouse sentiment of sadness and horror at the thought of families ripped apart by war.  While there are instances of family members fighting on opposite sides of the conflict, more often family members were fighting side-by-side for the same army.  Recruitment within towns and counties meant brothers, fathers, sons, uncles, cousins, and close friends often ended up in the same regiments, or fought in different units at the same time.  As a consequence, many families faced multiple tragedies during the war. 

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Secrets of a Cemetery, Part IV: The United States Colored Troops

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Secrets of a Cemetery, Part IV: The United States Colored Troops

For five men buried in the National Cemetery, the Civil War was the opportunity for a completely new future.  African-American men were not allowed to enlist until the second half of the war (black troops would see their first action in Virginia at Spotsylvania in 1864) but by the end of the war there were 166 black regiments in US service consisting of 180,000 troops.  For these Colored Troops and the rest of the enslaved population, the Civil War was the road to emancipation. 

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Secrets of a Cemetery, Part III: Beyond the Field of Battle

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Secrets of a Cemetery, Part III: Beyond the Field of Battle

When one thinks of battle casualties, combat deaths come first to mind.  Many more men were wounded than killed instantly; those that did not die within a short time on the battlefield were carried to field hospitals where overworked, undertrained, and undersupplied doctors tried to keep up with the stream of men coming off the field. 

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Secrets of a Cemetery, Part II: The Toll of Battle

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Secrets of a Cemetery, Part II: The Toll of Battle

Battle and violence are essential elements of war, and as a result many men become casualties.  These deaths were often sudden, gruesome, and disturbing and many occurred with little note taken of them.  Each grave in the cemetery obviously represents a death, and each deserves attention.  However, there are a few extraordinary stories that demonstrate both the courage of soldiers and the horrible nature of war.

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