|
|
| General George E. Pickett |
The grave of Confederate General George E. Pickett, who lent his name to the most famous charge in all of history, lies hard against the iron fence that separates Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery from busy Idlewood Avenue, away from the towering shade trees and picturesque view of the James River for which that fabled final resting place is known. The General wanted it that way; he lies just a stone's throw from the mass grave of some 3,000 of his men, who died on the field at Gettysburg during Pickett's Charge and were reinterred in Richmond in 1872 on "Gettysburg Hill."
As originally planned, the monument that now marks the General's grave was to have been placed on the Gettysburg battlefield at the furthest point reached by his division on July 3, 1863. The notion of a Confederate monument inside Federal lines did not sit well with the Union-dominated commission that controlled the fledgling military park, and permission to construct the monument was denied. The monument was thus built over Pickett's grave in Hollywood Cemetery.
The years that have passed since Pickett's death in 1875 and the erection of the monument in 1888 have not been kind to the imposing edifice of metal and stone. Overshadowed by a nearby 90-ft granite pyramid built in 1869 to honor the Confederate dead, the General's monument has been neglected in its out-of-the-way corner of the cemetery and allowed to fall into disrepair.
All that changed in October of 1997.
Thanks to the efforts of UDC member Patricia Wood, who belongs to the Virginia Division's Janet Randolph Chapter, and her husband Dwight, the General's monument has been newly landscaped and is undergoing major cleaning and repair work. As Richmond residents and frequent visitors to the cemetery, the Woods had noticed the sad condition of Pickett's monument and realized that someone needed to do something. It didn't take Pat long to decide that she could be that someone.
In the beginning, all she had in mind was landscaping. Pat contacted collateral descendant Ray Pickett, the General's great-great grandnephew, explained what she wanted to do, and asked his permission to begin. With Ray's backing, the Woods contracted with Sneed's Nursery in Richmond to plant three emerald green arborvitae behind the monument along the fenceline. The Woods financed half the cost; the remainder was donated by Sneed's.
To complete Pat's vision, the Woods next approached Hollywood's general manager David Gilliam and asked permission to place a flagstone walkway around the monument. Not only did the cemetery committee approve the request, it also appropriated $300 for the construction.
After the evergreens were planted in March, Richmond fell victim to a long dry spell. The Woods faithfully visited the cemetery every two weeks to water the General's new trees. On one such visit Dwight remarked that it was a shame to concentrate only on landscaping when the monument itself was in such terrible shape. Mortar was crumbling in many places, in some places there was none at all, and ferns were pushing their way through the many cracks in the structure.
That was all Pat needed. To find a stonemason with "perfect credentials," she didn't have to look any further than her own cousin, Julian Shobe, who had performed many historic restorations in addition to modern corporate work. Mr. Shobe visited the cemetery with his crew and assured Pat that he and Mike Marshall, a close friend and gifted stonemason, could repair the monument without compromising its 1888 appearance. Given the circumstances of the project, he further agreed to perform the needed work free of charge. Again, Ray Pickett approved the plans, and work began in mid-October.
When Shobe and Marshall began digging out what was left of the old mortar in the monument, they were shocked to discover how badly the edifice had deteriorated. Almost 90 percent of the old mortar, which was the consistency of wet sand, had to be removed. The mortar that was used to replace what the stonemasons removed was donated by Roger Dickinson, who read an article in the Richmond Times Dispatch about the restoration effort and offered his services to Pat. As an avid history buff and the president of Richmond's Riverside Brick Company, Dickinson quickly agreed to supply the masons with all the mortar they needed to complete the job.
Julian Shobe inspects his handiwork
|
Monument on September 27, 1997. Note the stone walkway and the evergreens by the fence. |
Then she found Russell Collins. Trained at Gettysburg National Military Park, Collins is one of only 26 individuals nationwide authorized to repair, clean, and restore old monuments and markers for the Federal Government. After reviewing Russell's portfolio, which included impressive work done all over the country, Pat knew she'd found her man. Collins readily agreed to take on the job -- and, in so doing, finally identified the mysterious metal. It was, he informed her, a compound made up of zinc mixed with bronze and known as "gray bronze." A rare substance, it was evidently chosen deliberately by Pickett's men because it would not change color over the years but would remain forever the Confederate gray that their General had worn so proudly.
Once Collins has completed the final phase of the restoration -- which will include cleaning the granite, cleaning and repairing the metalwork, waxing the gray bronze, straightening the Armistead tablet (which was knocked out of alignment during an attempted theft), placing silicone grout between the tablets and the granite, and finding a suitable replacement for several gray bronze rosettes that have been damaged or lost through the years -- Pat also hopes to plant six Pacific blue junipers around the base of the monument.
The cleaning of the monument is being funded by the Janet Randolph Chapter.
Ray Pickett, an SCV member who lives in New York and reenacts as a Confederate 1st Lieutenant in the 57th Virginia Infantry, Pickett's Division, Longstreet's Corps, says of Pat and Dwight's efforts on behalf of the General, "I wholeheartedly endorse the restoration of the Pickett grave site. God bless you all!"
Return to General Pickett's Monument Rededicated
