Audio
Ellwood Audio Walking Tour, #4, The Ellwood Cemetery and the Lost Cause
Transcript
Located in front of you is the Ellwood family cemetery. Established in 1807, the cemetery contains the remains of fifteen members of the Jones family, including William Jones and Hannah Coalter. The cemetery is enclosed by a split rail fence. Depressions are visible on the ground, although only one marker is present. The stone marker, placed here in 1903, indicates the general location of Confederate General Thomas Jackson’s arm, which was buried here during the Battle of Chancellorsville. This marker also provides insight into how former Confederates chose to remember the Civil War.
At the war’s end, the Lacy family returned to Fredericksburg and took up residence at Chatham. The people once enslaved at Ellwood were freed by the outcome of the war. The Lacys struggled financially. According to Betty Lacy, a man moved into Ellwood during their absence. After removing the unwanted guest, the Lacys began renting Ellwood out to a tenant farmer, Benjamin Hites, who moved into the house with his wife and nine children. In 1866, Horace Lacy inventoried the remains of the Confederate soldiers buried on the grounds and organized their removal to Confederate cemeteries . Struggling to maintain numerous plantations, the Lacys sold Chatham in 1872 and moved to Ellwood. Upon their return, they made repairs to the house and funded the construction of a home for their tenants, which no longer stands.
In the aftermath of the war, former Confederates such as James Horace Lacy sought to redefine the Confederacy’s reason for fighting and memorialize places associated with Confederate leaders like “Stonewall” Jackson. This type of work resulted in the creation of a narrative known as the Lost Cause, which celebrates the ideals of the Confederacy and claims that slavery was not the cause of the Civil War . The Lacys contributed to the Lost Cause narrative in many ways. Betty joined the Fredericksburg chapter of the Ladies’ Memorial Association and helped create two Confederate cemeteries in the area. The organization did not solely focus their efforts on cemeteries, but also on celebrating the ideals of the Confederacy and providing places for former Confederates to gather and hold events. Horace traveled through Virginia and other states giving speeches rooted in Lost Cause rhetoric. Within his speeches, he advocated for white supremacy and opposed equal rights for Black Americans. He also served a term in the Virginia House of Delegates, running as a candidate for the “White Man’s party.” Though the Lacys lost some of their wealth at the war’s end, they still retained their power and influence.
During the early 1900s, James Power Smith, a former aide to Stonewall Jackson and Horace Lacy’s son-in-law, traveled through the region and organized the creation of stone markers in places associated with the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. In 1903, Smith placed this granite marker in the Ellwood family cemetery, marking the general location of Jackson’s arm. The marker reads, “Arm of Stonewall Jackson, May 3, 1863.” The story of Jackson’s wounding and death became a central feature of the Lost Cause narrative. Many former Confederates ignored the true reasons for the Confederacy’s defeat and claimed that the Confederacy would have won the war if Jackson had lived. This marker is one of many created to memorialize the final moments of Jackson and build support for a false explanation of the war’s events. It stands as
Many stories and rumors have surrounded Jackson’s arm since its burial in 1863. One story posits that U.S. soldiers dug up and reburied the arm during the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864. Another suggests that U.S. Marines visiting the area in 1921 also dug up and reburied the arm. Though these stories are difficult to substantiate, they confirm that Jackson’s arm has become a point of curiosity over time. In 1998, archaeologists working for the National Park Service investigated the area but did not find a specific burial site. What can be determined from the arm’s burial site today is that former Confederates found it worthy of remembering in 1903.
While former Confederates directed their attention to people like “Stonewall” Jackson, U.S. veterans remembered people like Colonel Joseph Moesch. The men who first buried Moesch here in 1864 came back for his remains in 1887. They reburied Moesch in the Fredericksburg National Cemetery and dedicated a large monument in his honor. Today, the National Park Service aims to present sites such as the Ellwood cemetery within their full context, including discussions of the Lost Cause and Confederate memorialization.
Since the creation of a marker to Jackson’s arm in 1903, our country has continued to wrestle with the memory of the Civil War. The Ellwood family cemetery has long existed as a tourist stop for those curious about the war and about “Stonewall” Jackson. As time passed, new families moved into Ellwood and made additional changes to the property. Why did Ellwood’s last private owners call for its preservation? What lessons can we learn from Ellwood’s story today?
The last stop on the tour is the brooder barn. Follow the trail back to the main house. Turn left toward the parking lot and stop in front of the barn.
Description
After the Civil War, life at Ellwood changed drastically. The Lacy family returned home and worked to memorialize the Confederacy. Through the work of former Confederates like the Lacys, Ellwood’s family cemetery became a tourist attraction. Today, the burial site of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s arm is one of the most recognizable features of Ellwood. What does the family cemetery and the burial of Jackson’s arm tell us about how our nation remembers the Civil War?
Credit
NPS
Date Created
03/21/2024
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