This summer our family along with some of our buds embarked on an adventure to document Civil War vets across our county. It is part of a larger project being led by the State Historical Society called the
Sleeping Heroes Project. Bubby and I started in
April with some prep work by doing our own town cemetery. In May we had our first group project where we tackled a local country cemetery. We had a huge turn out from our
homeschool group, a majority of them showed up which was awesome! We documented 25 soldiers, most having served with Kansas regiments.
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| Bubby and his friends taking notes at Ridgeway (notice the GAR star on the left) |
Our next project was a huge one, Burlingame Cemetery. Burlingame was pre-statehood settlement started by abolitionists, so I was expecting to find a bunch of vets there. It did not disappoint! Even though we had a much smaller crew once summer kicked into full swing, they were a super dedicated group who faithfully showed up each month, even in the hottest part of summer to honor these guys!
We did our last day of documenting this week, and ended up with a total of 150 vets. There were two Confederate veterans, one of which was given a military burial by his Union vet buddies:) There were 6 (2 black, 4 white) who served with different regiments of the
Colored Troops (just a side note, the white soldiers, serving as officers in the Colored Troops, all came from the 11th Kansas, Co. I, which is going to require further research as to why that was). One of the things that stands out with what we have found out so far is that a large amount of the soldiers at Burlingame who served with Kansas units served with
11th Kansas, a fair number of which were either wounded or killed at Prairie Grove, Arkansas. One of the soldiers from Burlingame that was killed at Prairie Grove had Rooks County, Kansas named after him in memorial.
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| an oddity for Kansas, an 1812 vet! |
Our family also stopped on the way home from a family gathering this summer to walk a very small cemetery. We found 6 vets there, one of which may have participated in the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado.
I must say, prior to this project, the Civil War was just a bunch of battles and dates to me, I never got too excited about it. Now, however, give me half a chance, and I may talk your leg off! :)
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| The Civil War Monument at Burlingame |
This is really neat. I hope all the kids learned and can talk about it too. I think visiting the cemeteries is an important part of visiting the battlefields because it reminds me that the land that was not pretty was once covered with blood and that war is not to be celebrated, but we can't forget our hallowed ground and the men who fought. Also, every time you see a name on a marker you know there is a story and sometimes you just have to go find that story.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you all had a great time learning much about our country's history. : }
ReplyDeleteGreat work and interesting. Children should be proud and aware of their ancestors. You are doing a great job.
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