Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond

[gnagel]

I stopped by the Hollywood Cemetery on the morning of my departure from Richmond, Virginia. I expected to visit for an hour or so and then drive to my next destination. Instead, I ended up spending five hours at the cemetery.

The cemetery is so vast that one can get lost there. It was a very hot and humid day and the cemetery is hilly, so it's not fun if you take the wrong turn. During my walk out of the cemetery, I came across a woman who was sitting on a bench. She was waiting for someone to walk out with since she was having trouble figuring out how to get out of there!

There were amazing things to see at every turn:

1- The Iron Dog...

One of the most well-known monuments in Hollywood Cemetery is a cast-iron Newfoundland dog. The statue stands guard over the grave of a little girl who died in 1862. There are many stories about how the Iron Dog came to be in Hollywood Cemetery, including the most popular version that it was moved there to keep it from being melted down into bullets during the Civil War.

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3- President James Monroe Tomb...the casket sits inside an unusual cast iron cage known as "The Birdcage". The Birdcage was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971 for its unique architecture.

4- Tomb of President John Tyler (10th President of the United States). Tyler's death was the only one in presidential history not to be officially recognized in Washington, because of his allegiance to the Confederacy.

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6- Davis Circle...a life-size statue of Jefferson Davis marks his tomb. His children, many of whom died young, were also reinterred in Davis Circle and his wife was buried next to him following her death. I think I walked a mile in the heat on hilly terrain just to go from Monroe's tomb to this Circle.

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8- Confederate President Jefferson Davis

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10- Before coming to Richmond, I spent a couple of days at Gettysburg. While at the national cemetery, I was told that thousands of dead Confederate soldiers were moved from the battlefields to a cemetery in Richmond. The last thing I saw at the Hollywood Cemetery was this section of Confederate graves.

This 9-story high pyramid stands as a monument to the 18,000 Confederate soldiers buried in Hollywood Cemetery. The monument was built in 1868 and took more than a year to build.

It was strange walking around this section of the cemetery. Nearly every headstone indicated a date of death in the 1861-1865 range (Civil War). Many show dates within a three day period (July 1 through July 3, 1863)--the dates of the Battle at Gettysburg.

Thanks for looking...next stop, Raleigh!

Glenn

 

[Soocom1]

Great shots!
keep it going!

 

[smoke665]

Great set. It's been many years since I've been to Gettysburg. It's one of those place that overwhelmed me when the sheer numbers of lives lost washed over me. Over 51,000 soldiers died on those blood soaked fields, just under half the total of US troops lost during WWI, and just under the total lost during the entire Vietnam war.

 

[K9Kirk]

Another nice set and very interesting pics I might add.

 

[gnagel]

Thanks all...Glenn

 

[Jeff15]

Some very interesting shots.............