22 April 2007 by Published in: General musings 9 comments

As promised, here are some of the the pictures from my whirlwind tour of New Orleans and Austin. This first batch is from Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.

The flag marks the grave of Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard, which is in a mausoleum that houses veterans of the Army of Tennessee. Atop this mausoleum is a handsome equestrian monument to Albert Sidney Johnston. Sadly, I screwed up my attempt to take a photo of it.

This is the mausoleum of Gen. John Bell Hood and his family, all of whom died of disease in an epidemic.

This is the grave of Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor, the son of President Zachary Taylor, and his family.

This is a cenotaph to the Washington Artillery of New Orleans, one of the finest artillery units of the American Civil War. Note the upright concrete cannon barrels being used to hold the chains surrounding the monument.

This is a gilt monument to Joan of Arc that sits in the heart of the French Quarter. It was a gift to the people of New Orleans from French President Charles de Gaulle.

The next batch of photos is from the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.

This is the grave of Confederate Maj. Gen. John A. Wharton, who was killed by a Confederate cavalry officer in Houston on April 6, 1865.

This is the grave of Brig. Gen. Adam Rankin “Stovepipe” Johnson, the fine Confederate partisan and cavalry commander. Johnson and his brigade made the trip to Ohio with John Hunt Morgan in the summer of 1863.

This is the grave of Confederate Brig. Gen. Benjamin McCulloch, killed in action at the March 1862 Battle of Pea Ridge. McCulloch was a veteran of the Texas War of Independence, the Mexican War, and Texas politics.

Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston is also buried in this cemetery. He was briefly interred in New Orleans and later moved to Austin after he died in action at the April 1862 Battle of Shiloh. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to figure out how to get a decent photo of his grave, which is topped by a sculpture of the deceased Johnston lying in repose in his Confederate general’s uniform.

There was a Confederate old soldier’s home in Austin after the war, and many of those old Rebels are buried in a specific section of the Texas State Cemetery. Here’s a panoramic view of some of their graves.

This is the grave of Stephen P. Austin, the father of the Texas Republic.

This is the grave of former Texas governor and Secretary of the Treasury John Connally and his wife. When Connally died, apparently, the FBI wanted to see about recovering bullet fragments from the Kennedy assassination from his body.

This is a monument to the victims of 9/11. The girders are from the Twin Towers. The Texas state flag you can see in the distance is flying at half staff in honor of the victims of the mass killing at Virginia Tech.

This is the State Capitol of Texas. The dome of this building is higher in elevation than the dome atop the U. S. Capitol.

This monument pays tribute to Texas’ contributions to the Confederate cause. Jefferson Davis stands atop it, along with an infantryman, a cavalryman, an artillerist, and a sailor. There are some statistics included, and a list of every engagement where Texas soldiers participated.

This is a monument to Terry’s Texas Rangers, also known as the 8th Texas Cavalry.

This is a monument to the Texas Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia, one of the hardest-fighting units of all of the Confederacy.

This is a monument to the defenders of the Alamo. It’s a handsome monument with a beautiful bas relief of the Battle of the Alamo on its face.

This is my host, Dan Laney, the president of the Austin CWRT. Dan is standing alongside one of two brass Napoleon guns outside the Texas State Capitol. They date from the spring of 1865, after the surrender of the Confederacy.

There are a few more photos, but these are the best of the lot. It was quite a trip.

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Comments

  1. Steve Basic
    Sun 22nd Apr 2007 at 9:39 pm

    Eric,

    Thanks for sharing the photos. Kinda ironic here that there is still no memorial in NYC to those who died on 9-11. Typical NYC crap, as they can’t seem to get on the same page to do so.

    I especially like the monument to Terry’s Texas Rangers, and the one for the Washington Artillery in New Orleans. First time I have ever seen them.

    Thanks again.

    Hope all is well.

    Steve

  2. Sun 22nd Apr 2007 at 9:46 pm

    Steve,

    You’re very welcome, and I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed seeing them.

    It never ceases to amaze me that there is absolutely nothing yet in New York City to commemorate the events of 9/11. It just goes to show you how political everything in this world really is.

    Eric

  3. Randy Sauls
    Mon 23rd Apr 2007 at 10:27 am

    Eric:

    Great trip and great photos. I’ve always considered cemeteries to be wonderful places to learn about history. I especially liked the Terry’s Rangers memorial because we have one of Terry’s troopers buried here in Goldsboro. Jared White was 21 years old when he was killed in a firefight with Union foragers outside Goldsboro in March 1865. Although our city cemetery has a mass grave containing 800 Confederates, White is buried in an individual grave surrounded by an ornate Victorian iron fence. A Texas flag is kept flying over his grave 24/7, and is replaced several times a year as needed. A little bit of Texas in the Old North State.

    Randy

  4. Mon 23rd Apr 2007 at 3:21 pm

    Thanks for sharing the pictures Eric. I’m amazed that you had the time to get so many given your whirlwind schedule.

    I’ve been keeping an eye open for anything on Theodore Wint and the 10th Cav. Very scanty information. I did get a 7-day pass for newspaperarchives.com, pulling off a lot of information on Lawton. I’ve got a couple days left on the pass so I’ll do a search on Wint and the 10th Cav. Can’t promise anything but whatever I get, I’ll pass on to you.

    Rudy

  5. Matt Soule
    Tue 24th Apr 2007 at 2:24 am

    Great photos. They bring to mind a poem/song popular during the Civil War, partly reproduced as follows:

    “Somebody’s Darling”

    Into the ward of the whitewashed halls,
    Where the dead and dying lay,
    Wounded by bayonets, shells and balls,
    Somebody’s darling was borne one day.
    Somebody’s darling so young and so brave,
    Wearing yet on his sweet pale face
    Soon to hide in the cold dark grave,
    The lingering light of his boyhood’s grace

    Matted and damp are the curls of gold,
    Kissing the snow from that fair young brow
    Pale are the lips of delicate mold–
    Somebody’s darling is dying now.
    Back from his beautiful blue-veined brow
    Brush his wandering waves of gold,
    Cross his hands on his bosom now–
    Somebody’s darling is still and cold.

    Kiss him once for somebody’s sake,
    Murmur a prayer soft and low,
    One bright curl from its fair mates take,
    They were somebody’s pride you know.

  6. Dave Powell
    Tue 24th Apr 2007 at 4:45 pm

    Good pictures. Wharton’s is on Find-a-grave, I think, but the others are new to me.

    McCulloch was killed by a guy in the 36th Illinois, at Pea Ridge. I have a number of accounts of that action. He was riding forward to recon a Union line, and the 36th Illinois skirmishers (Co B, from Elgin IL) shot him down. They were impressed with his fancy vellvet uniform jacket, which reminded me of Custer the first time I read about it.

    Dave Powell

  7. Linda
    Thu 26th Apr 2007 at 8:20 am

    Eric,

    Thanks for sharing your photos. I agree with Randy’s comment about cemeteries being wonderful places to learn about histoy. The area around Austin is supposed to be gorgeous. One of these days I need to get out there!

    Linda

  8. Sat 12th May 2007 at 11:47 am

    Eric,
    What a great trip and thanks for sharing the photos. Dan Laney is a super host. Your pictures brought back great memories of Texas and Louisiana, and we hope to get back soon. In all my grave collecting, one of my favorite cemeteries is Lexington, KY. There is a huge monument to Henry Clay, then there are the Todds (Mary Lincoln’s family), Basil Duke, John Hunt Morgan, and John C. Breckenridge. It’s like strolling through a national cemetery. It is a testament to the importance of that little town. Great blog, Eric. I really enjoy it.

  9. Sat 12th May 2007 at 11:06 pm

    Deb,

    You’re welcome, and I’m glad to know you’re enjoying the blog.

    I spent the better part of an afternoon roaming around that cemetery in Lexington looking for the grave of Brig. Gen. Abraham Buford, the Confederate cavalryman., one day. As you say, it’s quite a place.

    Eric

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