Hoover's Gap 2008

[larry_cockerham]

Yesterday I stood on a very windy hill in Coffee County, Tennessee and witnessed a most interesting event. A crowd of perhaps 100 folks met to honor Union and Confederate ancestors in a small cemetery which happened to have been the center of the battle for Hoover's Gap in 1863. What made this a bit different was the fact that the crowd was split perhaps 50-50 blue and gray. Men and ladies from central Indiana had come south to honor their ancestors who fought bravely in this small battle. They were joined by local folks whose Confederate ancestors had met the US Army in 1863 in a most un-hospitable fashion. Yesterday's event included praying, hand shaking, a wreath laid by a marvelous little lady from the UDC and a bunch of big Hoosiers firing borrowed Confederate cannons in honor of their ancestors in the general direction of the hill from which the northern invaders had surfaced 145 years ago. Two re-enactors marched from the north and south to shake hands in front of the admiring audience. I know this sounds a bit sweet and mushy. It was. More events such as this are badly needed as we strive to keep the memory of those valiant soldiers alive. A marker honoring yankees in a southern cemetery. Who would have thought it? Richard Young for one, who took a big positive step with this little ceremony. More and more visitors from the north are coming to Tennessee to see just where their blue-coated forefathers met with the various components of the Army of Tennessee. We welcome the company.

[unionblue]

Larry,

Sure as hell doesn't hurt to have such events.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

[richard]

To Larry and all the other members of this board.

The members of the 18th Indiana Light Artillery Battery felt honored to participate in the dedication ceremony and stand side by side with their southern brothers.
There were two members of the "Yankee" battery who are high-schoolers. They made the comment after the program that they now know what it is about and just how important it is to tell other people just what happened in this terrible war. These boys will remember this day for the rest of there lives.

I also wish to thank all of the members of all of the SCV camps that were there and for all the work that they did to make this dedication possible, for without their help and their presents, it could not have been possible.

I will at a future date, post some photos of the dedication and the marker.

Richard

[whitworth]

A sign of the end in a way. It was reportedly the first battle use of the repeating rifle, the Spencer rifle, by Union forces. By late 1864, it was the preferred arms of the Union cavalry, the shorter but similar Spencer carbine.

[richard]

You are so correct. Maybe I should post a discription of the battle from the journal on one of the men who was there.