Marker Logo HMdb.org THE HISTORICAL
MARKER DATABASE
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Mount Jackson in Shenandoah County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Our Soldiers’ Cemetery

 
 
Marker, Our Soldiers' Cemetery image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Linda Walcroft, August 28, 2007
1. Marker, Our Soldiers' Cemetery
Inscription. The Mount Jackson Confederate Hospital’s cemetery, now called Our Soldiers Cemetery, was dedicated on May 10, 1866 the third anniversary of Stonewall Jackson’s death. The “Memorial and Decoration Day” organized by the local ladies was one of the first such observances in the South. The service began with an address in the church by Major Henry Kyd Douglas, the youngest of Jackson’s staff officers. Afterward, a participant wrote that “ladies, gentlemen and children as well as many ex-Confederates, all carrying wreaths prepared the day before, marched to the cemetery ¾ of a mile north of town to place those wreaths on each of the 400 graves.”
 
Erected 1997 by the Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number A-65.)
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial SitesWar, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources series list. A significant historical month for this entry is May 1861.
 
Location. 38° 45.29′ N, 78° 38.053′ W. Marker is in Mount Jackson, Virginia, in Shenandoah County. Marker is on Main Street (U.S. 11) south of Nelson Street (Local Route 1314), on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Mount Jackson VA 22842, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least
Paid Advertisement
Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.
Click or scan to see
this page online
8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. To All Confederates (a few steps from this marker); The Confederate Hospital (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named The Confederate Hospital (within shouting distance of this marker); Mt. Jackson General Hospital, CSA (within shouting distance of this marker); Moore House 1872 (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Mount Jackson (approx. 0.6 miles away); 5855 Gospel Street (approx. 0.6 miles away); Mayor Joseph A. "Joe" Williams (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mount Jackson.
 
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Shenandoah County Civil War related Markers.
 
Additional commentary.
1. The Sword of Robert Lee
The stanzas quoted on the north face of the monument are from the poem “The Sword of Robert Lee” by Abram Joseph Ryan (1839–1886) published in the collection entitled Father Ryan’s Poems published in 1879. The entire poem is reproduced below.

The Sword of Robert Lee
by Abram Joseph Ryan

Forth from its scabbard pure and bright,
Flashed the sword of Lee!
Far in the front of the deadly fight
High o’er the brave in the cause
Marker at Entrance to Cemetery image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, September 25, 2006
2. Marker at Entrance to Cemetery
of Right
Its stainless sheen like a beacon light
Led us to Victory.

Out of its scabbard where full long
It slumbered peacefully,—
Roused from its rest by the battle’s song
Shielding the feeble, smiting the strong
Guarding the right, avenging the wrong
Gleamed the sword of Lee.

Forth from its scabbard high in air
Beneath Virginia’s sky—
And they who saw it gleaming there
And knew who bore it knelt to swear,
That where that sword led, they would dare
To follow and to die.

Out of its scabbard!—never hand
Waved sword from stain as free,
Nor purer sword led braver band,
Nor braver bled for a brighter land,
Nor brighter land had a Cause so grand,

Nor cause a chief like Lee.

Forth from its scabbard! how we prayed,
That sword might victor be;—
And when our triumph was delayed,
And many a heart grew sore afraid,
We still hoped on while gleamed the blade
Of noble Robert Lee.

Forth from its scabbard! all in vain
Bright flashed the sword of Lee;—
’Tis shrouded now in its sheath again,
It sleeps the sleep of our noble slain;
Defeated yet without a stain,
Proudly and peacefully.
    — Submitted January 4, 2007, by J. J. Prats
UDC Monument, Roster of Burials, Hospital Marker (center tablet) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, September 25, 2006
3. UDC Monument, Roster of Burials, Hospital Marker (center tablet)
Monument inscription:

Front (east) face: Erected by the Mount Jackson Chapter of The United Daughters of the Confederacy, May 1908.

North face "Ne'er braver bled for a brighter land / Nor brighter land had a cause so grand."

South face: "Nor shall your glory be forgot / While fame her record keeps."

Back (west) face: Soldiers buried here from Virginia, Georgia, No. Carolina, So. Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Maryland, Louisiana, Texas. 112 unknown. "And now Lord, what wait I for / My hope is in thee." 1861—1865.

The quote on the back face is from the King James version of the Book of Psalms, Psalm 39, verse 7.
of Powell, Ohio.

2. The Bivouac of the Dead
The stanzas quoted on the south face of this monument are from the 1847 poem “The Bivouac of the Dead” by Theodore O’Hara. It was written to honor the dead during the Mexican-American War. Many of the soldiers and officers on both sides of the War Between the States were Mexican-American War veterans. The full poem is reproduced below.

The Bivouac of the Dead
by Theodore O’Hara

The muffled drum’s sad roll has beat
The soldier’s last Tattoo;
No more on life’s parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On Fame’s eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards, with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.

No rumour of the foe’s advance
Now swells upon the wind;
No troubled thought at midnight haunts
Of loved ones left behind.
No vision of the morrow’s strife
The warrior’s dream alarms;
No braying horn, nor screaming fife,
At dawn shall call to arms.

Their shivered swords are red with rust,
Their plumed heads are bowed;
Their haughty banner, trailed in dust,
Is now their martial shroud.
And plenteous funeral tears have washed
The red stains from each brow;
And the proud forms, by battle gashed,
Are free from anguish now.

The
UDC "To All Confederates" Monument image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, September 25, 2006
4. UDC "To All Confederates" Monument
neighing troop, the flashing blade,
The bugle’s stirring blast,
The charge, the dreadful cannonade,
The din and shouts are past;
Nor war's wild note, nor glory's peal,
Shall thrill with fierce delight;
Those breasts that never more may feel
The rapture of the fight.

Like the fierce Northern hurricane
That sweeps the great plateau,
Flushed with triumph, yet to gain,
Come down the serried foe;
Who heard the thunder of the fray
Break o’er the field beneath,
Knew the watchword of the day
Was “Victory or death!”

Long had the doubtful conflict raged
O’er all that stricken plain,
For never fiercer fight had waged
The vengeful blood of Spain;
And still the storm of battle blew,
Still swelled the glory tide;
Not long, our stout old Chieftain knew,
Such odds his strength could bide.

Twas in that hour his stern command
Called to a martyr’s grave
The flower of his beloved land,
The nation’s flag to save.
By rivers of their father’s gore
His first-born laurels grew,
And well he deemed the sons would pour
Their lives for glory too.

For many a mother’s breath has swept
O’er Angostura’s plain,
And long the pitying sky has wept
Above its moldered slain.
The raven’s scream, or eagle’s flight,
Or shepherd’s pensive
Our Soldiers' Cemetery image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, September 25, 2006
5. Our Soldiers' Cemetery
lay,
Alone awakes each sullen height
That frowned o’er that dread fray.

Sons of the Dark and Bloody Ground
Ye must not slumber there,
Where stranger steps and tongues resound
Along the heedless air.
Your own proud land’s heroic soil
Shall be your fitter grave;
She claims from war his richest spoil,
The ashes of her brave.

Thus ’neath their parent turf they rest,
Far from the gory field,
Borne to a Spartan mother’s breast
On many a bloody shield;
The sunshine of their native sky
Smiles sadly on them here,
And kindred eyes and hearts watch by
The heroes sepulcher.

Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead,
Dear as the blood ye gave,
No impious footstep here shall tread
The herbage of your grave.
Nor shall your glory be forgot
While fame her record keeps,

For honor points the hallowed spot
Where valor proudly sleeps.

Yon marble minstrel’s voiceless stone
In deathless song shall tell,
When many a vanquished age hath flown,
The story how ye fell.
Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter’s blight,
Nor time’s remorseless doom,
Shall dim one ray of glory’s light
That gilds your deathless tomb.
    — Submitted January 4, 2007, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.
 
"To All Confederates" Statue image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, September 25, 2006
6. "To All Confederates" Statue
Wreath and Flag Carving image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, September 25, 2006
7. Wreath and Flag Carving
The Only Marked Graves image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, September 25, 2006
8. The Only Marked Graves
1 Lieut Daniel C King, Co C, 16 NC CSA, Jul 27 1863.
Pvt John Hackett, Co E, 60 Ga Inf CSA, Aug 1 1863.
Solomon Shrader, Co C, 62 Va Mntd Inf CSA, Aug 11 1863.
Our Soldiers’ Cemetery image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bradley Owen, October 17, 2017
9. Our Soldiers’ Cemetery
Left Roster: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, September 25, 2006
10. Left Roster: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina
To read, click image to enlarge.
Right Roster: North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, September 25, 2006
11. Right Roster: North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia
To read, click image to enlarge.
Supplemental Left Roster: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, September 25, 2006
12. Supplemental Left Roster: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina
Click on image to enlarge.
Supplemental Right Roster: South Carolina, Georgia, Unknown image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, September 25, 2006
13. Supplemental Right Roster: South Carolina, Georgia, Unknown
Click image to enlarge.
This Flag Waves Over the Dead image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, September 25, 2006
14. This Flag Waves Over the Dead
The Third and final Confederate National Flag.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on April 3, 2021. It was originally submitted on December 22, 2006. This page has been viewed 2,762 times since then and 16 times this year. Last updated on September 28, 2020, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. Photos:   1. submitted on September 1, 2007, by Linda Walcroft of Woodstock, Virginia.   2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. submitted on December 22, 2006, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.   9. submitted on April 2, 2021, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia.   10, 11, 12, 13, 14. submitted on December 22, 2006, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.

Share this page.  
Share on Tumblr
m=156950

CeraNet Cloud Computing sponsors the Historical Marker Database.
This website earns income from purchases you make after using our links to Amazon.com. We appreciate your support.
Paid Advertisements
Mar. 19, 2024