Sacred Ground: How Civil War Battlefields were Remembered by Soldiers
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Transcript of Sacred Ground: How Civil War Battlefields were Remembered by Soldiers
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Sacred Ground: How Civil War Battlefields were Remembered by SoldiersBy James Conway
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Immediately after the War• As early as June of 1865
veterans began building monuments on battlefields.
• Cemeteries were common place around battlefields, and although this is considered consecrated ground these places were seen as places of mourning.
• Enterprising private citizens began to turn Gettysburg into a park.
• Interest groups for both sides began to build monuments.
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How the Soldiers saw Themselves• The most iconic statue was the
lone citizen soldier, he represented the volunteer who risked his life for values greater than himself.
• In the two decades that followed the war more than two hundred of these type of statues were commissioned.
• Had a variety of poses, which were used for different memories of the war.
• This was the first war were the monuments focused on the common soldier.
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Establishing the Memory of the Battles• Veterans wanted to preserve
the battlefields as a way to preserve their memories.
• By preserving the battlefields the veterans could make their own shared memory.
• Preserving the battlefields also allowed veterans to explain the soldiers experience to the public.
• As sacred grounds battlefields became places the represented courage, valor, and sacrifice.
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How the Battlefields are treated today• Today the battlefields are still
treated as places of reverence.• Monuments and statues still
receive prayers and treatment as religious sites by citizens today.
• Reenactments help keep the memory alive and active for the modern generation.
• Americans from all states come to visit these sites in order to be closer to the memories of these fields.