This week’s additions to the Civil War category at the Historical Marker Database cover sites in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. All told fifty-eight new entries:
– Adding to a state marker (added earlier this month) a memorial near Kennesaw, Georgia stands at the site where Confederate General Leonidas Polk was killed. “Thus standing a cannon shot from the enemy’s guns crashed through his breast, and opened a wide door through which his spirit took its flight to join his comrades on the other shore.”
– Three new entries from a marker cluster in Rome, Georgia related to the Atlanta Campaign. Markers note the advance of Davis’ Federal Corps, French’s Confederate Division which resisted the advance, and the Federal occupation of the town on May 18, 1864.
– A plaque in Mattoon, Illinois notes the spot where U.S. Grant first took command of the 21st Illinois, the first command in the war for the General.
– A simple plaque in Oakland, Illinois is the locality’s Civil War memorial.
– Troy Grove, Illinois is the birthplace of James Butler Hickock, Federal scout who was more famous by the name “Wild Bill” and for his exploits in the west after the war.
– The veterans’ memorial in Strasburg, Illinois lists the town’s Civil War veterans.
– A state marker in New Albany, Indiana notes a stop on the Underground Railroad.
– Several markers this week around Richmond, Kentucky, but not all directly related to the August 1862 battle there. A state marker indicates the site of a Federal field hospital used in the battle. A tour marker notes the site of a Confederate Cemetery on the battlefield. A nearby wayside tavern served as a field hospital during the battle, then later in the war by General Grant who was passing through. A masonic memorial honors both Union and Confederate soldiers. Cassius Marcellus Clay, US Minister to Russia during the war, is buried in Richmond.
– 20th century Marine General Field Harris, buried near Versailles, Kentucky, came from a family of military leaders, including Confederate General Charles Field.
– A batch of markers from Fayetteville, North Carolina this week. C.M. Stedman, from Fayetteville, was the last former Confederate officer to serve in the US Congress. A Civil War trails marker at the old Parade Ground relates the story of the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry who went to war as Company H, 1st North Carolina Infantry.
– Also in Fayetteville, a Civil War trails marker discusses Cross Creek Cemetery where many Confederates were buried. A Confederate memorial in the cemetery was carved by George Lauder, a stonecutter of note. Warren Winslow, a congressman in 1861 who negotiated the surrender of the Fayetteville Arsenal in 1861, is buried in the cemetery.
– And as any Airborne(!) trooper knows, Fort Bragg, outside Fayetteville, was named for Confederate General Braxton Bragg.
– A Civil War trails marker in Tarboro, North Carolina discusses the brief occupation of the town by Federals during Potter’s raid of July 1863. Also in the town common is the Edgecombe County Confederate Memorial.
– Three Civil War related markers from Greensboro, North Carolina this week. The Piedmont Railroad, a vital supply line to Danville, Virginia, had its southern terminus in the city. Jefferson Davis met with the Confederate cabinet on April 12-13, 1865 in Greensboro while fleeing south. The cabinet remained in Greensboro until April 15, meeting in a railroad car.
– The home of Confederate General Matt Ransom, who later served as minister to Mexico after the war, was near Jackson, North Carolina.
– Six markers in Pennsylvania and Maryland provide interpretation for the Battle of Monterey Pass. The battle, fought during the retreat from Gettysburg, was the second largest action in Pennsylvania during the war.
– A marker on the east end of Sullivan’s Island near Charleston, South Carolina notes the location Breach Inlet. The inlet saw fighting in the Revolutionary War and during the Civil War Battery Marshall was part of the Confederate defensive line deterring Federals.
– In North Augusta, South Carolina, in the Wade Hampton Veterans Park, stands a tribute memorial to those who served in the Civil War.
– The Bethel Community Training Ground in Simpsonville, South Carolina served as a muster point for the “Jeff Davis Guard” which became Company F of the Hampton Legion.
– A state marker in Nashville, Tennessee discusses the black laborers who helped build nearby Fort Negley.
– In Charlotte County Courthouse, Virginia, a Civil War trails marker discusses the passage of Federal raiders on June 25, 1864 (part of the Wilson-Kautz Raid). One quote from the marker stands out – “People complimented us very highly. Seemed very thankful that we did not rob or burn.” Nearby stands the county Confederate memorial.
– Continuing with additions to the Wilson-Kautz Raid Civil War trail, a wayside in Halifax, Virginia discusses the raiders activities on June 23, 1864. A state marker mentions the stay of General George A. Custer in April 1865. Nearby stand the Halifax County Confederate Memorial and the war memorial, which includes a roster of men of the county who served.
– Markers in Boydton, Virginia continue the Wilson-Kautz tour. A Civil War trails marker near Boyd Tavern notes the muster of men to serve the Confederacy, and the passage of the Federal raiders. And again we find the county’s Confederate memorial nearby.