More Road Trippin': Laurel Hill Cemetery's Civil War Connection

Wikipedia.

I wrote about Philadelphia's West Laurel Hill Cemetery earlier.  That cemetery is a part of the larger Laurel Hill Cemetery in that city.

According to Wikipedia, hundreds of era persons are buried there, along with 40 Civil War-era generals.

HENRY K. BIDDLE  (1841-1912)--  Union Army officer and Medal of Honor recipient.  Forwarded personal effects of mortally wounded Confederate General Armistead to his old friend, Union Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock.

ULRIC DAHLGREN (1842-1864)--  One of leaders of famed 1864 attack on Richmond and son of Union Naval Admiral John A. Dahlgren.  His father is also buried there.

SAMUEL GIBBS FRENCH (1818-1910)--  Confederate general.  Buried in Florida but family has a cenotaph on family plot.

GEORGE GORDON MEADE  (1815-1872)--  Hero of Gettysburg.

JOHN C. PEMBERTON  (1814-1881)--  Confederate General who surrendered Vicksburg.

Kind of interesting to have two Confederate generals remembered in the cemetery.

--Old Secesh

Some More On Col. Ulric's Leg-- Part 2: The Leg's Long Story At the Washington Navy Yard

And, then there is the story of what happened to the colonel's leg.  After it was cut off, the question became what to do with it.  It was in an advanced state of decomposition and it was determined that sending it to Philadelphia to be buried in the family plot was not an option.

But, there was a closer option: the Washington Navy Yard.  Ulric's father, John Dahlgren, was no longer in charge there, but the current commander  took the leg.  At the time, a new foundry was being to built at the yard to cast the elder Dahlgren's cannons and it was deemed appropriate that the leg should be buried in a wall of it.  A plaque was affixed to it saying that this was where the leg was buried.

The foundry was  demolished in 1915 and replaced with a metal fabrication shop though the leg was kept where it was.  However, the new shop was torn down in 1942 and the leg wasn't there.  The plaque, however, was attached to the new building erected on the site which in turn was replaced with a parking garage in 1998.  That plaque and another one explaining the story are still at the new facility.

It is not known where the leg is.

Where Is the Leg?  --Old Secesh

The Saga of Col. Ulric Dahlgren's Leg-- Part 2: In A Cornerstone

At the time of his wounding, Ulric Dahlhren was a 20-year-old cavalry officer leading a charge through the streets of Hagerstown, Maryland,  when a Confederate shot  struck his right ankle and passed through his foot.  Three days later, he got home to Washington, but a fever set in and surgeons had to amputate his leg  just below the knee.

His father was John Dahlgren, who had recently been commandant of the Washington Navy Yard (but now commanded the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron trying to take Charleston, S.C.)  A new gun foundry was being built at the Yard.  The day after the amputation, an ambulance took the leg to the yard, and a Marine honor guard escorted it to the foundry where the building's cornerstone was about to be laid.

The leg was placed in a box, draped with an American flag and sealed inside the cornerstone.

So, Now We Know Where the Leg Is, Or Do We?  --Old SeceshWhere

A Coincidence About the Dahlgrens

I have been writing about Ulric Dahlgran's leg in this blog.

His father, John Dahlgren, has an article in the April 2019 Naval History Magazine about his work on amphibious operations during the Civil War.  John Dahlgren had been commander of the Washington Navy Yard before and during the first part of the war and had met with President Lincoln many times.

He was also responsible for the Dahlgren guns and other items for the Navy.

At the time of Ulric losing his leg, his father was commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

--Old Secesh

Col. Ulric Dahlgren's Leg-- Part 2: Under a Parking Lot?

Shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg, he was in Hagerstown, Maryland,  in July 1863 when his right foot and lower leg was hit by a bullet.  It became necessary to amputate below the knee.  He survived that, but a year later was killed during a Richmond Raid targeting Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Now, back to that leg.    Ulric Dahlgren's father was Rear Admiral John Dahlgren, who had developed an innovative smoothbore cannon and was admired by President Lincoln.

Leg burials weren't uncommon back in that era, at least among the well-connected.    That summer, the heat in Washington, D.C. was sweltering and Ulric decided not to bury the leg at his home.  So instead it ended up up in the cornerstone of a new foundry building being built.  That building has since been torn down and is a building that serves as a parking lot.

However, there is a plaque at that structure, Building 28, that gives the story of Ulric's leg.  However, a Washington Post story from 1991 reports that the leg may have been removed at some point so perhaps it is not there.

Where Is Ulric's Leg?  --Old Secesh