Fayetteville, Arkansas, is a town that I enjoy touring. Visiting the main library of the University of Arkansas is a treat as is a visit to the Dickson Street Bookstore; the bookstore has a nice selection of used Civil War books. On one of my visits, I took along Wilson’s Creek, Pea Ridge & Prairie Grove: A Battlefield Guide with a Section on Wire Road by Earl J. Hess, Richard W. Hatcher III, William Garrett Piston, and William L. Shea. Following their directions, I drove into a neighborhood in Fayetteville, up a steep hill, and to the Confederate Cemetery. According to the guidebook, “There are 622 Rebel soldiers buried here—only 121 are known. Several of them died as a result of the battle of Pea Ridge, but records are far too scanty to accurately estimate how many. William Y. Slack, who was mortally wounded on March 7 while leading his Missouri brigade into action near Elkhorn Tavern, is buried here. His remains were removed from their original resting place and reinterred here on May 27, 1880, with his widow, sister, and two sons in attendance. The youngest son had been born six months before Pea Ridge; Slack never saw him.” (p. 249)
Here is a photograph that I took of Slack’s headstone:
The cemetery is a quiet place tucked into a residential neighborhood, and I enjoyed visiting it.
No comments:
Post a Comment