Savannah Chapter #2 United Daughters of the Confederacy

The Pyramid ...
Dedicated to :18,000 Confederate war dead in the Hollywood Cemetery at Richmond, Virginia .. Designed by Charles H. Dimmock, a civil engineer of the Confederate Army, it has a broad base and a height towering at 90 feet tall. The pyramid is built from granite stones pulled from the nearby James River. The pyramid was begun on December 3, 1866, and built by prisoners in just short of three years—the capstone was laid into place on November 8, 1869. The pyramid encapsulates several artifacts that were dear to Confederate soldiers, including a button from General Stonewall Jackson’s coat, a Confederate flag, and a lock of President Jefferson Davis’ hair ...

Large granite blocks on the four sides of the pyramid read, “MEMORIA IN ACTERNA”, “NUMINI ET PATRIAC ASTO”, “ERECTED BY THE HOLLY-WOOD MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION A.D. 1869”, and “TO THE CONFEDERATE DEAD.”
(The Latin translates to “in eternal memory of those who stood for God and country”.)




(Excerpts Virginia History)

Born into America’s most famous military family, he became a general, prisoner of war, congressman, and survivor of defeat.

Major General William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, better known as “Rooney” Lee, was born in 1837 at Arlington House, Virginia, the second son of General Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Randolph Custis. His family heritage connected him to some of the most prominent figures in early American history, including Henry Lee III and Martha Washington. After spending much of his youth moving between military posts with his father, Rooney attended Harvard University. His academic career was brief, however, and in 1857 he accepted a commission in the United States Army, serving on the western frontier before resigning to become a Virginia farmer.

That peaceful life ended when Virginia left the Union in 1861. Lee joined the Confederate cause as a captain in the 9th Virginia Cavalry and quickly proved himself an effective officer. During the Seven Days Battles, Second Manassas, and the Maryland Campaign, he earned promotions through merit and leadership. By late 1862 he had risen to brigadier general and received command of a cavalry brigade within the Army of Northern Virginia.

Lee's greatest early test came during the Battle of Brandy Station on June 9, 1863, the largest cavalry battle ever fought on American soil. When Union cavalry crossed the Rappahannock River in a surprise attack, Rooney Lee rapidly organized a defensive line and resisted repeated assaults for hours. His stubborn defense helped delay the Federal advance, but he suffered a severe leg wound before the fighting ended. The injury removed him from active service at a critical moment in the war.

While recovering, Lee experienced both personal tragedy and captivity. Captured by Union forces, he spent months imprisoned at Fort Monroe and Fort Lafayette. During his confinement he learned that his wife had died, a devastating blow while he remained unable to return home. Exchanged in March 1864, he immediately returned to Confederate service. His abilities earned him promotion to major general, making him one of the youngest officers in the Confederacy to reach that rank and placing him in command of a cavalry division during the war's final campaigns.

In April 1865, Rooney Lee fought at Five Forks and later surrendered alongside his father and the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House. After the war he returned to farming, became a leader in Virginia agriculture, served in the Virginia Senate, and later represented Virginia in the United States Congress. He died in 1891, having witnessed both the rise and fall of the Confederacy and the reunification of the nation. Today, William Henry Fitzhugh Lee remains remembered as a soldier who carried one of America's most famous names while forging a notable career of his own.

A single recommendation changed American history, shaping a legendary general’s career, faith, and family long before battlefield fame.

Daniel Harvey Hill was known for his sharp intellect, strong opinions, and fiery personality. A veteran of the Mexican-American War, future Confederate lieutenant general, and later an educator, Hill left his mark on military and academic history alike. Yet one of his most important contributions occurred years before the Civil War, when a simple professional recommendation helped alter the course of another man's life.

In 1851, Hill was serving as a mathematics professor at Washington College in Lexington, Virginia. When officials at the neighboring Virginia Military Institute sought advice regarding candidates for a vacant teaching position, Hill reviewed the list and immediately recognized the name of a former comrade from the Mexican War. Impressed by his abilities and character, Hill strongly endorsed the applicant, Thomas Jonathan Jackson.

Thanks in part to Hill's recommendation, Jackson was hired as a professor at VMI. Although students initially found him strict and unconventional, the position provided him with stability, professional respect, and a platform from which he would eventually emerge as one of the most famous military commanders in American history. Years later, the world would know him by a name earned on the battlefield—Stonewall Jackson.

Hill's influence on Jackson extended beyond professional matters. He encouraged the previously uncommitted Jackson to attend the local Presbyterian church, helping introduce him to a faith that would become central to his life. Jackson embraced religion with the same determination he applied to every endeavor, becoming deeply devoted to his beliefs and known for his unwavering spiritual convictions.

Hill also introduced Jackson to his sister-in-law, Anna Morrison. Their relationship blossomed into a devoted marriage that brought happiness and stability to Jackson's personal life. Looking back, it is remarkable how a single friendship influenced so many aspects of one man's future. Through a recommendation, a church invitation, and a family introduction, Daniel Harvey Hill helped shape the career, faith, and family life of the man who would become one of the Civil War's most celebrated generals.

He stood where bullets tore through the air, survived earlier wounds, and earned admiration from allies and rivals alike.

Maxcy Gregg was one of the most educated and respected figures to serve the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1814, he graduated first in his class from South Carolina College and built a successful career as a lawyer. Beyond law, Gregg immersed himself in astronomy, botany, languages, and other scholarly pursuits, even maintaining a private observatory. His reputation as an intellectual made him a prominent figure in South Carolina society long before the war began.

A strong supporter of states’ rights, Gregg became deeply involved in the political debates that shaped the nation’s future. He participated in the South Carolina convention that voted for secession in 1860 and quickly turned his attention to military service. Helping organize the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, he became its first colonel and soon rose to the rank of brigadier general under Confederate commander A. P. Hill in the famed Light Division.

Gregg’s brigade earned distinction on several major battlefields. At Gaines’ Mill, his men played a significant role in Confederate attacks against Union positions. During the Second Battle of Bull Run, his brigade repeatedly repelled determined assaults, strengthening his reputation as a capable battlefield commander. At Antietam, he suffered a painful thigh wound from the same bullet that killed fellow Confederate General Lawrence O’Bryan Branch, yet he returned to duty.

His final battle came at Fredericksburg in December 1862. As Union forces under General George Meade broke through part of the Confederate line, confusion swept through the area defended by the Light Division. During the fighting, Gregg was struck by a bullet that entered his back and damaged his spine. Carried from the battlefield to a field hospital, he initially believed he had been permanently paralyzed. Although some feeling later returned to his legs, doctors determined that the wound could not be survived.

For several days he fought for life while comrades and officers visited his bedside. Among them was Stonewall Jackson, despite earlier disagreements between the two men. On December 15, 1862, Maxcy Gregg died from his wounds. His reported final words were, “I yield my life cheerfully, fighting for the independence of South Carolina.” His body was returned home and laid to rest in Columbia, where his legacy remains tied to both his military service and his remarkable intellectual achievements.

Emma Sansom was born on June 2, 1847, near the small town of Social Circle, Georgia, to Micajah and Levina Vann Sansom, a niece of influential Cherokee leader James Vann. When Emma was five years old, her parents moved the family, which would include 12 children, to a farm outside the town of Gadsden, Alabama. Emma's father died six years later on Christmas Eve.

The story of Sansom's actions during Streight's Raid (April 19-May 3, 1863) is part Alabama history and part myth. Although she did aid Forrest in locating a crossing on Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877) was a cavalry general Nathan Bedford ForrestBlack Creek, some of the details, particularly alleged conversations between Sansom and the cavalry commander, have undoubtedly been dramatized.

On the afternoon of May 2, Streight and 1,700 infantry, many mounted on mules, crossed Black Creek (located three miles from Gadsden) ahead of Forrest and destroyed the only local bridge, thus impeding the Confederate pursuit. Unable to use the bridge to cross the swollen creek, Forrest rode to a nearby home to find someone knowledgeable about the local terrain and came upon 16-year-old Sansom. According to an account published in the Jacksonville Republican one week later, Sansom volunteered to guide Forrest to a nearby ford. Initially, her mother objected to the idea of her daughter being escorted by a group of strangers. But Forrest was well known and respected, and Sansom's mother dropped her objections. With Sansom's guidance, Forrest located the ford, crossed it, and caught up with the Union forces. While escorting the general, Sansom reportedly faced enemy fire that ceased after the Union soldiers discovered that they had been firing upon a teenage girl.

Abel Streight (1828-1892) was a Union colonel during Abel D. StreightSansom's actions directly helped Forrest capture Streight and his raiders near Cedar Bluff the following day. By aiding the Confederate general, Sansom risked possible retribution for herself and her family from the Union soldiers had they escaped capture. At the time of the raid, her brother, who had been wounded in battle while serving in the Confederate Army, was at home recuperating from his injuries. His presence, in addition to her actions, would have certainly stirred the interest of the raiding party. That potential sacrifice made Sansom an enduring heroine of the Confederacy for generations.

In October 1864 Sansom married farmer Christopher B. Johnson. Around 1868, they moved to Upshur County, Texas, and the remainder of Sansom's life was spent primarily rearing the couple's seven children and running her household. In 1887, Johnson died, and Sansom never remarried. Historians have found no evidence that she wrote or commented on her wartime experiences in her adulthood. She passed away on August 9, 1900, and was buried in Little Mound Cemetery in Upshur County.

In 1906, the city of Gadsden erected an Emma Sansom Statue.Sansom's legacy has endured as an idealized representation of a feminine heroine defending the Confederacy. Her association with General Forrest further cemented her distinction as a heroine of the South. In 1906, the Gadsden Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected a monument honoring her Civil War contributions. The base of the statue contains a carving of Sansom accompanying Forrest on horseback. In the 1920s, the town named a high school in her honor. She was also the subject of a poem written by John Trotwood Moore. A chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Louisiana bears her name.

Hurst, Jack. Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.

Happy Birthday Jefferson Davis
June 3, 1808