Went to Elmwood Plantation in The Wilderness, Virginia, today just to get out of the house for a wee bit.Elmwood Plantation is famous for being the final resting place of Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson's left arm. Jackson lost the arm during a friendly fire incident at the Battle of The Wilderness in May 1863. He subsequently died of pneumonia on May 10th. His arm is buried at Elmwood Plantation, just off of Virginia Route 20. The plantation was the site of a field hospital. The rest of Jackson, sans his left arm, is buried in Lexington, Virginia. (Lexington, coincidentally, is also the home of Washington and Lee University. At the end of the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee accepted a position as president of what was then Washington College. He was so beloved that, upon his death, the trustees changed the name of the college to Washington & Lee.)
Here is a picture of me at the marker for Stonewall Jackson's left arm. The inscription on the stone says "Arm of Stonewall Jackson / May 3, 1863"
8 comments:
I've known you my whole life, and you are still twisted.
To all of Janet's friends I hope the consensus is: "Only Janet!"
"Jeeeeeesus Christ!"
You crack me up.
Hey, just watched the wedding video. You can fish spiders out of my bodice any day. With your one good arm.
Thanks for giving me a laugh first thing in the morning.
Hey! You found his arm! Merujo and I thought we'd found it, but instead ended up at the house where the rest of him died. (You have to scroll down quite a bit before you get to the relevant section...)
A grave for a body part.
How very bizarre!
Great pic though!
Kaidydid: It takes one to know one! ;-)
ME: I'd forgotten about the spider fishing expedition! Guess I won't be able to run for political office after that one. I'd love to see that footage...
Holly: Always glad to provide a laugh.
Sasquatch: His arm rests in the middle of a corn field! It had sort of a sixth sense quality to it. I'd love to go back on Halloween, but I'm afraid I'd get arrested for trespassing. Thanks for the link. I'll have to check out the Stonewall Shrine on my next trip into the southland.
Miss U: Isn't it, though? But imagine the usefulness of this item at cocktail parties or pub crawls... "I've seen the place where Stonewall Jackson's arm is buried... Yep, just his arm... No, really, it's true." Either people will think you're really cool or they'll think you're really bizarre.... Probably more of the latter, though, huh? Hm...
That's funny. My grandfather used to insist on taking all of his photos with one hand tucked into his jacket like Napoleon. If he were still alive I would suggest armless.
lol - Whenever my hubby and I are driving that way, I always turn to him and say, Hey, wanna go visit THE ARM?
Love your blog!
Post a Comment