“Rest soldier, sweetly rest.”

I feel like I know Henry Augustus Sand pretty well. Not that I ever met him. After all, he died in 1862. But, I have read a great deal about him, his service to his country, and his ultimate sacrifice. He is, of course, interred at Green-Wood. I told his noble, heroic, yet sad story … Read more

Mark Their Graves

As Memorial Day rapidly approaches, we think of the men and women who have sacrificed so much in service to this country. We honor their service. In 2002, we launched Green-Wood’s Civil War Project. We wanted to identify and locate the graves of Civil War veterans who are interred at Green-Wood. And, over the years, … Read more

Coincidence? Or Something More?

We have a new Historic Fund volunteer–Patty. She was interested in doing something, and, it turned out, she is quite the genealogical researcher. Once I learned that, I suggested that she might do follow-up research on the biographies of some of our Civil War veterans, looking for census entries, obituaries, and more, to improve their … Read more

Discovered: J.P. Reynolds, Artist

On December 23, 2010, I blogged about a painting I had just purchased on behalf of the Green-Wood Historic Fund that memorialized the Civil War career of Major Edward Marrenner. I explained how happy I was to have acquired it and that I had never seen anything like it. Well, now we know quite a … Read more

The Artillery Has Arrived!

Memorial Day Weekend is just a few days away. As those of you who follow my blog know, we have great plans for that weekend–the Grand Procession, the March of Honor, and an exhibition on our Civil War veterans, “Honoring Their Sacrifice.” We started setting the exhibition up yesterday and will continue to do so … Read more

“Honoring Their Sacrifice”

We have big plans for the rapidly-approaching Memorial Day Weekend 2011. This spring is the sesquicentennial of the beginning of the Civil War–it all began 150 years ago. We are going to have a great exhibition (“Honoring Their Sacrifice”) in our Historic Chapel from May 28-June 12 (with 3 Civil War Artillery pieces, including a … Read more

To Be Displayed . . .

Well, this is a bit of a strange one. Sue Ramsey is a wonderful researcher who is one of our very best Civil War Project Volunteers. About a year ago, Sue offered to do some follow-up research on our Civil War biographical dictionary. She wanted to see if she might be able to solve some … Read more

No Respect for History

Unfortunately, not all historians are honest. Dr. Thomas P. Lowry, according to the description on one of his books, is “a retired professor of psychiatry.” Lowry, since the late 1990s, has made something of a name for himself as a researcher at the National Archives, going through obscure material there, then publishing books about his … Read more

A Witness To History

Few names from the Civil War are as magical as John Singleton Mosby (1833-1916), “The Gray Ghost” of the Confederacy. Leading his First Virginia Cavalry, widely known as Mosby’s Rangers, in lightning raids against Union forces, then disbursing to local farms, Mosby’s great raids are the stuff of legend. One of his most famous actions … Read more

Writing In Hope

It was a different time. During the Civil War, millions of men went off to fight for cause and country. But the governments of North and South were tiny, and had few resources. So private groups, like the Sanitary Commission, organized by New York City’s leading citizens (many of its leaders are interred at Green-Wood), … Read more