Before The War, the City of Richmond found the small, private cemetaries in the church yards around town to be too small for the number of graves needed due to rapid population expansion. In order to alieveiate some of the problem, an area west of the outskirts of town was laid out for interment.. It was a beautiful plot of land with glorious views of the skyline and river, called Hollywood Cemetary. James Monroe's remains were moved there, and the leading families all wished to be so honored at their passing. People even headed out to Hollywood on nice afternoons to picnic on the bluffs overlooking the James. With the onset of war, the picturesque surroundings were going to go through a major change. When the first troops from across Virginia, North Carolina, Tennesse, and the Deep South began to arrive to offer their services to the fledgling Confederate government, disease quickly spread through the camps of instruction of the new army. The rural segments of the military had never been exposed to the varied ailments of city life. Urban soldiers were not used to the exposure of the outdoors. The women of ill fame added their social diseases to the mix. All of this made for an unhealthy, and often fatal, combination. Soon, hospitals sprang up in every corner of the city. The primative medical practices of the day were not up to the challenge, and the death toll rose. Then, with the opening of the actual shooting, battlefield casualties added thier horror to the mix. 1861 was a year of halting, half-battles. What wounded and dead did make it to Richmond were numerous, but not yet overwhelming. But, when the 100,000 men of the Union Army of the Potomac began their drive on the city from the east in 1862, a macabre realization of what was to come hit Richmonders. Tens of thousands of hideously maimed and mortally wounded men were laying all over the fields just five to six miles outside of town. Robert E. Lee was not fighting a timid battle in the trenches of the suburbs. This was an all-out, hammer blow to relieve the capital of his native state. Men were falling by the score, every minute of every day for seven days. Those soldiers who could make their way on foot began streaming into the city. The few ambulances in the Rebel army, groaning over muddy, rutted roads, jolting the unfortunates crowded into the un-sprung wagons brought a few into the city. The citizens lent a helping hand. Hundreds took personal carts and carriages out to such places as Gaines Mill, Savage Station, Glendale, and Malvern Hill and brought off all they could; however, when they returned, a new problem was quickly evident. Where to take these broken men? The hospitals had been over overflowing before the Federals had even landed in Norfolk. Now, a scene, as horrible as anything imaginable presented itself. Hundreds of these gallant troops simply laid down to wait, either for help or death, whichever mercy should find them first. The weapons of the day had a knack for inflicting tremendous damage on human flesh, and to bear witness to the military advances of the Industrial Revolution, were the wounded who lay exposed to the weather on the sidewalks of the old city. By the time Lee and his army had fought off the blue-clad host, and turned north to face another threat forming from that direction, the death toll had become staggering. At that point, a horror as terrifying as any encountered till now showed itself. Where could the dead be laid? Oakwood Cemetary on the eastern side of Richmond was quickly filling up, and the park-like setting west of town was the only choiceleft. Hollywood would become what Arlington was to become at roughly the same time in northern Virginia. Freemen, slaves, anyone who would wield a spade, were set to work digging mass graves in the northwest corner of Hollywood Cemetary. Row upon row of these trenches were dug. Bodies were laid in layers. Still, the work of the grave diggers could never keep up with the hand of death. Decomposing corpses would lay for days, even weeks, while the worker struggled and dug.
By the time The War came to a close, over 18,000 gallant Rebels had been laid to rest in the ground of Hollywood.
In the years to come, it became the ultimate honor for the generation of soldiers to ask to join their comrades in the beautiful setting. From President Davis, to General J.E.B. Stuart, to the lowliest private, thousands were granted their final wish. Quickly, Hollywood Cemetary again regained the stature of a picturesque haven. The rich and powerful families had vaults fit for royalty. Huge oblisques and sculptures dotted the hills. Untold more became nothing more than a number on a small stone, and Hollywood became one of the finest examples of funerary art anywhere in the world.
For someone walking through this gem today, you could never imagine the horrible four year period when this was the scene of a Hell on Earth. |
