Civil War Poem/Tribute

[oldpete63]

Found this on Eric Wittenberg's Blog - a poem/tribute by one of his readers - Gordon Ponsford - had to share:

The Sentinels Of Hallowed Ground

On Battlefields across our land



Flags raised high, sword in hand
Standing guard over fallen dead
Where history dwells, now tourists tread
Gazing upon the open fields
Where valor stood and didn't yield
These statues are more than bronze and stone
They're bought with blood, by boys from home
Now a century and a half have gone
Since the silence of the drums and guns
Etched in stones are their epitaphs
Told to those who this way pass
So remember those who heard the call
They fought the fight, and gave it all
The cannons salute with a solemn round
To the Sentinels of Hallowed Ground.

 

[Bonny Blue Flag]

Well said, Pete.

This poem describes the feelings I have when walking around a battlefield.

--BBF

 

[7thTxInf]

Great poem....think its very fitting on this Memorial weekend.

 

[donna]

Thanks for sharing this poem.

 

[Linda Duff]

Great poem. So much said in so few words. Lots of imagery.
Has anyone read Stephen Vincent Benet's poem The Army of Northern Virginia?
An epic, but worth the time.

 

[oldpete63]

Well said, Pete.

This poem describes the feelings I have when walking around a battlefield.

--BBF

Very true - most of our friends, when they hear we are visiting battlefields, respond with " ..but it's just grass and monuments, don't you get bored ?" - if they could only see what those fields and monuments represent to folks like us in this forum - the monuments honoring the men of both sides who fought valiantly - and the fields they fought on in life and death struggles - then maybe it would bring the whole concept to life - then again, different strokes for different folks. At least, we get it .

 

[JWheeler331]

I think its a good poem that can be used and appreciated by either side.

 

[CSA Today]

Lest They Be Forgotten ... The Origin of Memorial Day

From the May, 1893 issue of "Confederate Veteran,"
It is a matter of history that Mrs. Chas. J. Williams, of Columbus, Ga., instituted the beautiful custom of decorating soldiers' graves with flowers, a custom which has been adopted throughout the United States. Mrs. Williams was the daughter of Maj. John Howard, of Milledgeville, Ga., and was a superior woman. She married Maj. C. J. Williams on his return from the Mexican War. As colonel of the First Georgia Regulars, of the Army in Virginia, he contracted disease, from which he died in 1862, and was buried in Columbus, Ga.

Mrs. Williams and her little girl visited his grave every day, and often comforted themselves by wreathing it with flowers. While the mother sat abstractly thinking of the loved and lost one, the little one would pluck the weeds from the unmarked soldiers' graves near her father's and cover them with flowers, calling them her soldiers' graves.
After a short time while the dear little girl was summoned by the angels to join her father. The sorely bereaved mother then took charge of these unknown graves for the child's sake, and as she cared for them thought of the thousands of patriot graves throughout the South, far away from home and kindred, and in this way the plan was suggested to her of setting apart one day in each year, that love might pay tribute to valor throughout the Southern States. In March, 1868, she addressed a communication to the Columbus Times, an extract of which I give:
"We beg the assistance of the press and the ladies throughout the South to aid us in the effort to set apart a certain day to be observed from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, and to be handed down through time as a religious custom of the South, to wreathe the graves of our martyred dead with flowers, and we propose the 26th day of April as the day."
She then wrote to the Soldiers' Aid Societies in every Southern State, and they readily responded and reorganized under the name of Memorial Associations. She lived long enough to see her plan adopted all over the South, and in 1868 throughout the United States. Mrs. Williams died April 15, 1874, and was buried with military honors. On each returning Memorial Day the Columbus military march around her grave, and each deposits a floral offering.
The Legislature of Georgia, in 1866, set apart the 26th day of April as a legal holiday in obedience to her request. Would be that every Southern State observed the same day.

 

[Conservator]

Thank you for the comments on my poem. I wrote it while working on the sculptures at Chickamauga Battlefield.
Even though it's hard to call it work when you love what your doing.....

 

[oldpete63]

I would like to welcome you to this forum, Mr. Ponsford - and we truly appreciate your wonderful poem "Sentinels Of Hallowed Ground" which was posted. An honor !!! For those who have not seen the poem yet - link is below :

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/civil-war-poem-tribute.72467/

and quite a background

Restoration had always appealed to Gordon Ponsford, but it was while working in a cemetery that he "found [his] love."
"A cemetery holds a wealth of information — it is where history dwells," Ponsford said.
That love of history led to his establishing what has become the largest conservation and restoration in the Southeast and among the largest in the country.
Pondsford's work can be seen throughout the Chickamauga Battlefield where he has embarked on a multi-year program to clean, restore and preserve bronze plaques and sculpture throughout the park.
"I'd grown up in England living and breathing history," he said. "To preserve and save history became my passion."
He first approached his craft while learning metal refinishing by working in his grandfather's auto body shop in England.
"Dad was an American who served in Korea and Vietnam, Mom was English and I wanted to learn the family business — and metal restoration," he said.
The business was sold in the 1970s and Ponsford moved to the United States and settled in Atlanta. There, what started with him bringing vintage and classic automobiles back to better-than-new conditions led to his operating the largest conservation and restoration group in the Southeast.
"I was doing restoration on a DeLorean [a stainless steel-skinned exotic car] when its owner asked if I'd work on an antique elevator," he said. "I figured metal is metal and then realized there was more work to be had doing architectural metal restoration than automobiles."
Leaving the Atlanta operation in his brother's keeping, Ponsford, who will be 53 this Halloween, opened an office in the nation's capital.
Performing maintenance at Arlington National Cemetery marked a milestone in his shift from autos to artifacts.
"While doing some metal restoration we were asked to do a sculpture," he said. "That's when I found my calling."
Working in Arlington taught him local, national and world history and helped him realize the critical role of conservators.
"Wear and tear or thoughtless acts of vandalism can destroy the past forever," he said.
But it is not only the ravages of time or vandals that can desecrate either artifact or monument. There is also the very real danger of unintentionally doing irreparable damage.
"Our goal is to not apply something that will be detrimental to a piece's integrity," Ponsford said. "I get disheartened by seeing what has been done with good intentions. Damage can be caused by accident or neglect, but I see more destruction done by use of inappropriate techniques."
Ponsford noted some things where attempts to help cause harm instead: overzealous use of high-pressure washers to remove grime that inadvertently washes away delicate pieces of stonework; sand blasting, which grinds delicate details away; the use of harsh chemical cleaners that open pores in stone, leaching away coloring or damaging the very things they are meant to protect.
"We feel a responsibility to the artifact and to the artist," he said. "A conservator's motto should be, 'do no harm.'"
Ponsford said he knew nothing about the Chickamauga and Chattanooga battlefields — "I'd see the signs while traveling between Atlanta and Washington" — until the National Park Service contacted him after seeing his work at Arlington.
Now he is undertaking a multi-year project to restore monuments and plaques to their original glory. It is a task that involves restorations along Missionary Ridge, at Lookout Mountain's Point Park and Cravens House, on the reservation at Orchard Knob and throughout the grounds of Chickamauga Battlefield.
"Every large monument at Chickamauga has been vandalized or had pieces stolen," Ponsford said.
Stabilization is not terribly expensive — pennies on the dollar — compared to the cost of a full-blown restoration that can range from $2,500 to $250,000. But with the National Park Service's tight budget, efforts at stabilization and ongoing maintenance leave nothing to replace missing or mangled pieces.
"America is such a new country that it is essential to preserve its history," Ponsford said. "What I'd like to see happen here is for local businesses to adopt a monument to help underwrite repairs."
Putting his money where his mouth is, Ponsford has commissioned and is paying a sculptor to model and mold a new bronze sword to replace one missing from the Tennessee monument located near Wilder Tower.
And the man who has restored artifacts recovered from RMS Titanic and regularly refurbishes monuments at Arlington National Cemetery, including John F. Kennedy's and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, is spending the next two years working to preserve and protect the national treasures that punctuate the hallowed ground where soldiers fought and fell over the course of a few days in September of 1863.
"I'm restoring the past for the future," Ponsford said. "I get equally thrilled working on these [at Chickamauga] as on the Titanic."

 

[M E Wolf]

Thank you for the comments on my poem. I wrote it while working on the sculptures at Chickamauga Battlefield.
Even though it's hard to call it work when you love what your doing.....

Gordon Ponsford, sir:

Any way you can get these blueprints before they are lost to the ages or sold to some overseas person?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221013034351?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

2ND MASSACHUSETTS CHATTANOOGA CIVIL WAR MONUMENT BLUEPRINTS JOHN A FOX

Maybe you can call someone to get these prints--you got the connections and possible network to save this document. Has to help restoration of it in the future.

Thanks,
M. E. Wolf