Civil War Monument Dedication at Arlington Church

by ARLnow.com May 25, 2012 at 2:30 pm 3,511 13 Comments

Arlington County Board Chair Mary Hynes will help dedicate a new obelisk monument honoring Civil War dead at a North Arlington church over the weekend.

Hynes will be the featured speaker when the monument is dedicated at the historic Mount Olivet United Methodist Church cemetery (1500 N. Glebe Road) at noon on Sunday, May 27.

The dedication is taking place as the state and the county continue to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The 150+ year old church, it turns out, played an important role in the aftermath of the war’s first major land battle.

“The church was used as a field hospital during the summer by Federal troops retreating from the First Battle of Bull Run, July 21-24, 1861,” church officials noted in an email. “Several who gave their lives in the Civil War found their final resting places in unmarked graves in the cemetery. The new monument now marks their presence and honors their service.”

“Mount Olivet United Methodist Church is proud of its Civil War heritage,” said Hank Hulme, church historian emeritus. “This dedication will be one more important event in the Sesquicentennial celebrations honoring Arlington’s place in Civil War history.”

In addition to the Civil War graves, Mount Olivet also has a connection to the Memorial Day holiday itself. The church contains the grave of Sue Landon Vaughan, one of the early founders of Memorial Day.

Photo courtesy Mount Olivet United Methodist Church

Captain Pup McPuppo

*howls & listens to echo inside empty internet website*
novasteve

Fine Pup, I’ll say something controversial to get things going.

Does Hynes feel dirty honoring Confederate soldiers?
- Clarendon
  
  I thought the article said it was honoring the Federal (Union) soldiers that were buried at the church ?
  - novasteve
    
    Good point. Now I’m offended she didn’t, because they were americans too.
    - speonjosh
      
      Right up to the point at which they defected.
      
      Spare us, steve-o. You would be among the first to condemn anyone today who dared to do anything similar.
  - schmex
    
    During the Civil War, there were families in Alexandria County who fought for the north and families who fought for the south. Mount Olivet served as a hospital tending to wounded soliders on both sides as well as providing a final resting place for those who died. You can find both union and confederate graves at Mount Olivet. They may or may not be marked. The original burial records were destroyed in a fire. Current records were recreated from information on the headstones.
    - Clarendon
      
      Nice. In that case it is a place of reconciliation and especially deserves to be marked and honored.
- Mary-Austin
  
  She would not be honoring Confederate soldiers had it been the other way around.
  In fact some people act like Robert E. Lee’s home being in Arlington is a dirty little secret.
- Captain Pup McPuppo
  
  awesome, thanks steve!!
MC

Hopefully people will see is as a maker of how stupid our nation was 150 years ago. Let’s drop the silly Ken Burns sentimentality and recognize the Civil War as a shameful episode, that is best forgotten.
- Suburban Not Urban
  
  Yea because you shouldn’t stand up for your principles and allow the foolish to decide your fate.
  - ArlingtonWay
    
    Hmmmm. Exactly which side are defending here?
- speonjosh
  
  Forgotten?! Never. Do you want people 150 years from now to forget that you existed? Rather depressing, isn’t it?
  Frankly, forgetting the US Civil War would be a fairly unintelligent thing to do. It played a crucial role in the development of the United States and changed who we are today. It may not be too absurd to claim that it also helped shaped the course of human history as a whole.
  If nothing else, the Civil War gave us Abraham Lincoln, who still stands as a model for all humans to aspire to.

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