Gettysburg at Arlington Part 6: Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Kohr
December 4, 2009
Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Kohr is still on his scavenger hunt for Gettysburg related individuals in Arlington National Cemetery. Here he is standing in Section 1, near the boundary with Fort Myer, at the grave of Captain Edwin S. Osborne of the 149th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment (Bucktails). After Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Osborne sent by the War Department to Macon, Andersonville and other points in the South, to investigate and report upon the treatment given Union prisoners of war by the South. Osborne’s investigation led to the arrest and trial of Captain Henry Wirz, of Andersonville. The charges prepared by the United States were drawn by him, and he prepared the case for trial. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
Arlington National Cemetery, overlooking Washington, D.C., has many connections to Gettysburg and to the Gettysburg Campaign. There are many more connections than to only Robert E. Lee’s residence, and John F. Kennedy’s grave. Almost every row in the older sections have someone buried there who had a link to Gettysburg.
Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Kohr shows us the individuals connected to Gettysburg who are buried at Arlington.
In our first Arlington post, Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Kohr explains Robert E. Lee’s connection with Arlington, how the Union Army first occupied the site, and why Union Brigadier General General Montgomery C. Meigs established a National Cemetery at Arlington.
In our second post, Rich Kohr showed us the burial places of some of the first Union soldiers killed during the Gettysburg Campaign, and individuals such as John Gibbon and Hiram Berdan.
In our third Arlington post, some of the Gettysburg Campaign graves we saw included those of Ezra Carman, Roy Stone, and Abner Doubleday.
In our fourth Arlington post, we showed the graves of Gabriel Paul, Romeyn B. Ayres, J. Irvin Gregg, and Samuel Perry Lee, and James Jackson Purman.
In our fifth Arlington post we showed the graves of Lieutenant James Stewart of Battery B, 4th U.S., Colonel William Dudley of the 19th Indiana Infantry, Sergeant Frederick Fuger of Cushing’s Battery, and Colonel John Ramsey of the 8th New Jersey Infantry.
In our sixth Arlington post Rich Kohr presents the graves of Horatio Wright a division commander of the Sixth Corps, and Ellis Spear, Captain of the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment during the Gettysburg Campaign.
This map shows us the locations taken of videos for our Gettysburg at Arlington series. Videos #1-#15 were shown in our previous Arlington posts. Video #16 was taken at the grave of Army of the Potomac Ordnance Chief Daniel W. Flagler. Video #17 was taken at the grave of Colonel William Dudley of Major-General Horatio Wright in front of the Custis-Lee Mansion. Video #18 was taken at the grave of the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment’s Ellis Spear. This map was created facing north at approximately 6:00 PM on Saturday, October 10, 2009.
Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Kohr is standing by the headstone/monument to Brigadier-General and Chief of Ordnance Daniel W. Flagler. This view was taken facing north at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
In Video #16 (Videos #1 – #15 were shown in our previous Arlington posts) Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Kohr is standing near the monument to Army of the Potomac Chief of Ordnance Daniel W. Flagler. This view was taken facing north at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
Flagler was the Chief of Ordnance of the Army of the Potomac during the Gettysburg Campaign. He was assigned as an inspector to the West Point Foundry from November, 1863 to May, 1864. This view was taken facing north at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
Brigadier General Frank Wheaton commanded a brigade in John Newton’s Division of the Sixth Corps during the Gettysburg Campaign. He commanded the division when Newton took command of the First Corps. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
Wheaton’s family was torn apart by the Civil War. His father-in-law was Samuel Cooper, a New Yorker who was adjutant general of the United States Army. Cooper’s wife was from a distinguished Virginia family, however, and Cooper sided with his wife’s family, accepting an appointment in the Confederate Army. Cooper became a full general and was the highest ranking general in the Confederate army. This view was taken facing north at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
We are standing at the gravesite and eternal flame of President John F. Kennedy. At the top of the hill is the Custis-Lee Mansion/Arlington House. To the right of the house is the monument and burial location of Major-General Horatio G. Wright. This view was taken facing west at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
Brigadier General Horatio G. Wright was the commander of the First Division of the Sixth Army Corps during the Gettysburg Campaign. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
In Video #17 Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Kohr is on the lawn in front of (east of) Arlington House, near the grave of Horatio G. Wright. This view was taken facing southeast to east to southwest at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
After the war, Horatio G. Wright was involved in a number of engineering projects, including the Brooklyn Bridge and the completion of the Washington Monument, and served as Chief of Engineers for the United States Army Corps of Engineers. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
We are looking from Wright’s grave, down the front lawn of Arlington House, to the grave of President John F. Kennedy. This view was taken facing east at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
On November 25, 1963, at 3:00 PM, the state funeral of President Kennedy began. Earlier that day cemetery employees at Arlington, along with personnel from the Military District of Washington, conducted 23 funerals. All were conducted with appropriate dignity and military honors. This view was taken facing east at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
Today, Arlington averages approximately 30 funerals per day. There are approximately 300,000 individuals buried in Arlington. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
Our final stop on this Arlington visit is the grave of Captain Ellis Spear of the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
Ellis Spear was born in Warren, Knox County, Maine, on October 15, 1834. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1858 and entered the United States Army in August, 1862, as a Captain in the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment. From October, 1863, till February, 1865 he commanded the 20th Maine. He was brevetted for his services at Peebles Farm, where he was in command of a brigade while holding the rank of Major, and subsequently received the brevet of Colonel for gallantry in action, and on April 9, 1865, that of Brigadier General. He served for a short time as inspector of his division, and at the close of the war was in command of a brigade. He was mustered out in July, 1865. This view was taken facing west at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
In Video #18 Rich Kohr is standing near the grave of Ellis Spear. He shows how close Spear’s grave is to Senator Robert Kennedy’s grave and Senator Edward Kennedy’s grave. This view was taken facing north to northwest at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
Ellis Spear was Assistant Examiner of Railway and Civil Engineering, 1865-68; Examiner, 1868-72; Examiner in Chief, 1872-74; U.S. Patent Office as Assistant Commissioner of Patents, 1874-76. He engaged in private business from 1876 until January 1877, when he was appointed Commissioner of Patents of the United States. He was then Vice President, Washington Loan and Trust Company, Washington, D.C. and the Equitable Cooperative Building Association and an Overseer at Bowdoin College. This view was taken facing west at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
Ellis Spear’s grave is approximately 50 yards from that of Senator Edward Kennedy. The people closest to the camera in the background are near the grave of Senator Kennedy. This view was taken facing northwest at approximately 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 27, 2009.
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