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The Ladies of Warrenton Seek To Honor The War's Fi

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A good early postwar manuscript document, 2pp. folio, presented by the ladies of Warrenton, Virginia on March 1, 1866 appealing for donations allowing for them to properly honor the Confederate dead in Warrenton's cemetery, reading, in part: "During the recent war the town of Warrenton, Virginia was more than once converted into an asylum for sick and wounded soldiers of the Southern army. On these occasions every private dwelling became a hospital and every citizen a nurse…in the humble burying ground of our town scores of these brave martyrs now lie…the rude hand of war has not even spared the frail memorials erected above them and soon…the dust of heroes will become a waste where friends of departed ones will seek in vain…the resting place of their 'loved and lost.' This must not be…the memory of those who bled and died in a cause which is claimed as ours should be rescued from oblivion…the humble sod which covers them shall not be rudely trampled on by foot of man and beast. We wish to…enclosure and to mark them in some…permanent manner as shall enable distant friends…to identify those that hold their buried treasure. To raise the means necessary…we make our appeal to friends here and elsewhere…to the generous hearted…on this noble enterprise of piety, charity and love…". Immediately following the text is a list of perhaps two-dozen names along with the givers respective donation pledge. Following the battles of First and Second Bull Run over six hundred Confederate soldiers perished in field hospitals around Warrenton. In order to honor the fallen Confederate soldiers local school children erected wooden headboards to each soldier, but callous Yankee soldiers tore down the headboards and used them for firewood during the winter of 1863. Not until 1877 were the graves of these Southern heroes relocated under a stark granite monument…the effort to properly honor these men continues today. Near fine.

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