Ellwood Cemetery

This family cemetery for Ellwood's owners is today the resting place of "Stonewall" Jackson's arm.

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Amenities

1 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Established in 1807, the Ellwood cemetery contains the remains of fifteen members of the Jones family, including William Jones and Hannah Coalter. The cemetery is enclosed by a split rail fence. Depressions are visible on the ground, although only one marker is present. The marker indicates the location of Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson’s arm, buried here in 1863 during the Battle of Chancellorsville. The Ellwood family cemetery has long existed as a tourist stop for those curious about the war and about “Stonewall” Jackson. How did this small family cemetery become so connected with the legay of the Confederacy and the Lost Cause?
 

From Family Cemetery to Symbol of the Lost Cause

At the war’s end the Lacys began renting Ellwood out to a tenant farmer, Benjamin Hites, who moved into the house with his wife and nine children. In 1866, Horace Lacy inventoried the remains of the Confederate soldiers buried on the grounds and organized their removal to Confederate cemeteries. Unable to maintain numerous plantations, the Lacys sold Chatham in 1872 and moved to Ellwood. 

In the aftermath of the war, former Confederates such as the Lacy's sought to redefine the Confederacy’s reason for fighting and memorialize places associated with Confederate leaders like “Stonewall” Jackson. This type of work resulted in the creation of the Lost Cause narrative, a false version of the Civil War that denies slavery as the cause of the conflict. In this postwar period, Betty joined the Fredericksburg chapter of the Ladies’ Memorial Association and helped create two Confederate cemeteries in the area. The organization celebrated the ideals of the Confederacy and provided places for former Confederates to gather and hold events in addition to funding Confederate cemeteries. Meanwhile, Horace served a term in the Virginia House of Delegates. According to a local newspaper, he ran as the candidate for the “White Man’s party.” During his short political career, Lacy supported white supremacy and opposed equal rights for Black Americans. Though the Lacys lost some of their wealth at the war’s end, they still retained their power and influence.

During the early 1900s, James Power Smith, a former aide to "Stonewall" Jackson and Horace Lacy’s son-in-law, traveled through the region and organized the creation of stone markers in places associated with the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. In 1903, Smith placed this granite marker in the Ellwood family cemetery, marking the general location of Jackson’s arm. The marker reads, “Arm of Stonewall Jackson, May 3, 1863.” Many former Confederates ignored the many reasons for the Confederacy’s defeat and claimed that the Confederacy would have won the war if Jackson had lived. This marker is one of many created to memorialize the final moments of Jackson and build support for a false explanation of the war’s events. It stands as evidence of the Lost Cause narrative in guiding the memory of the Civil War over time. 

Many stories and rumors have surrounded Jackson’s arm since its burial in 1863. One story posits that U.S. soldiers dug up and reburied the arm during the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864. Another suggests that U.S. Marines visiting the area in 1921 also dug up and reburied the arm. While these stories are difficult to substantiate, they confirm that Jackson’s arm has become a point of curiosity over time. In 1998, archaeologists working for the National Park Service investigated the area but did not find a specific burial site. What can be determined from the arm’s burial site today is that former Confederates found it worthy of remembering in 1903.

While former Confederates directed their attention to people like “Stonewall” Jackson, U.S. veterans remembered people like Colonel Joseph Moesch. Colonel Joseph Moesch led the 83rd New York and was killed while leading his soldiers into battle in the Wilderness in 1864. Moesch’s soldiers buried his remains in the Ellwood family cemetery before their departure. The men who first buried Moesch here in 1864 came back for his remains in 1887. They reburied Moesch in the Fredericksburg National Cemetery and dedicated a large monument in his honor. 

Today, the National Park Service aims to present sites such as the Ellwood cemetery within their full context, including discussions of the Lost Cause and Confederate memorialization. Since the creation of a marker to Jackson’s arm in 1903, we continue to wrestle with the memory of the Civil War. The way that we choose to remember our past sets the course for future generations. What lessons can we learn from Ellwood’s story today?