The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Civil War Graffiti on West Virgina Church Wall

From the April 23rd Herald-Mail.

Martinsburg, W. Va.  The full exposure and conservance of "remarkable" graffiti from Civil War Union soldiers will cost $63,000.

Morgan's Chapel in Bunker Hill, W. Va., is the scene of the graffiti, most done in pencil, but some in crayon.

Berkely County Historic Landmarks Commission and the Episcopal Diocese of W. Va., are working to preserve the north wall of the chapel which was built in the 1850s and is in danger of collapsing without emergency work.  Its original plaster walls have remained pretty much the same since the Civil War.

The graffiti was uncovered in November 2008 by workers cleaning the interior which was covered with five layers of paint.

One notation read: "Look out Johnny Reb for we are coming.  And by the help of God we are bound to lick you Traitors..."  The graffiti is on a wall in the "slave gallery" of the church which is located along US-11.  there is a belief that other structures along the road might also contain graffiti.

The workers also found several patched holes in the brick walls of the church, nearly uniform in size and height, apparently rifle slots used while the church served as a make-shift fort.

I Don't Know, Putting Graffiti On a Church?  --Old Secesh

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