Confederate Soldiers in Elmwood Cemetery / Colonel Henry Kyd Dou
Side A
Confederate Soldiers in Elmwood Cemetery
Over 114 Confederate soldiers who were killed at the Battle of Sharpsburg (Antietam) September 17, 1862, or later died of wounds in Shepherdstown, were buried here. They were from the states of VA, NC, SC, GA, AL, MS, LA and FL. Many remain unknown. That year and each one thereafter, local townspeople strew flowers on their graves. It is believed that this was the initiation of Confederate Decoration Day (October, 1862). Later, Confederate Memorial Day was observed on the first Saturday in June. The Southern Soldiers' Memorial Association placed the obelisk monument here in 1879 and the 114 headstones in 1884. The Henry Kyd Douglas Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans erected the monument and bronze tablets containing names of 568 Southern soldiers from the area (1937). The State of WV contributed $750.
A total of 281 Confederate veterans are interred here including GEN W. W. Kirkland of Hillsborough, N.C., and Shepherdstown personalities COL Henry Kyd Douglas (youngest staff officer to Stonewall Jackson).Alexander R. Boteler (both a United States and Confederate Congressman, political confident of GEN Jackson and designer of the Seal of the Confederacy), COL Isaac S. Tanner (Chief Surgeon, Hoke's Division), COL Isaac V. Johnson, COL Wm. A. Morgan, COL Wm. Fitzhugh Lee, widow Lily Lee, and JEB Stuart's scouts; CPT Redman Burke, CPT Matthew Leopold and LT Henry Hagen.
Side B
Colonel Henry Kyd Douglas
Staff Officer to Stonewall Jackson
At the top of the hill in Elmwood Cemetery is the grave of COL Douglas, youngest staff officer to GEN Stonewall Jackson. Born in Shepherdstown in 1838 and raised at 'Ferry Hill Place' in Maryland across the Potomac River bridge, he is noted for his classic book, I Rode with Stonewall. Considered one of the best personal memoirs of the Civil War, it is a warm and insightful recollection of the human side of Lee's commanders in the Army of Northern Virginia. Douglas was an eyewitness to the significant events of the era (1859-1865). As a youth he unwittingly assisted John Brown in moving a wagonload of weapons and later attended Brown's trial in Charles Town. When Virginia seceded, he enlisted in the 2nd Virginia Infantry and later joined Jackson's staff.
He participated in all the major Eastern battles from Manassas to Appomattox, was cited several times for bravery, wounded twice and taken prisoner at Gettysburg. in 1864, he served in GEN Jubal Early's staff in the Raid on Washington and was later given command of GEN A.P. Hill's light Brigade. His soldiers were the last to stack arms at Appomattox. When the war ended, he was arrested for posing for a photo in uniform and imprisoned in Washington D.C. There he testified at the trial of the Lincoln Conspirators. In later years he practiced law and served as a circuit judge in Maryland. He died in 1903. His book was published in 1940.
Marker is on S. Duke Street, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
