Presents
Presents
"A Last Salute"
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Caution:
| Please be advised that there are
graphic pictures and videos of
human skeletons in this exhibit. Some people, especially younger children, could be disturbed or
frightened by these images. Please use common sense...
Anthropologists, historical educators and students may use the images and video for study. However any publication of the images without prior approval is strictly prohibited. [Editors Note: This preservation model displays these historical images in the same manner that the Library of Congress displays pictures of the battlefield dead by Mathew Brady... for historical and educational purposes. The grave site, which is now a McDonalds parking lot, was located next to where the Centreville fortifications had once stood in Fairfax, Virginia. "A Last Salute; The Battle of Ox Hill"" is the only documentation publicly available that chronicles what these historic sites had once contained. The gravesites, fortifications and the Ox Hill (Chantilly) Battlefield have all been developed into high density housing, strip malls and parking lots. |
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In the late
of 1862, Major General John Pope established his
headquarters
at the old Confederate fortifications in Centreville, Virginia.
Within the ring of fortifications was the main field hospital where some of the wounded from the battlefields of Second Manassas and Ox Hill (Chantilly) were taken. Horse-drawn ambulances would in turn transport them to waiting trains at Fairfax Station and then on to our Nations Capitol, just twenty miles distant. Many never made that trip... In January, the remains of six U.S. soldiers were excavated while bulldozers continued clearing the last sections of the Centreville fortifications. The graves were found evenly spaced with military precision atop a wooded knoll. It was as if walking into a church... a place of honor... where these unknown soldiers had silently stood guard over the battlefields they fought and died on. [A few years earlier a (South Carolina) battlefield grave was also discovered when the Ox Hill Battlefield was bulldozed to make way for high density housing and businesses.] |
| To assist the local government, physical anthropologist Dr. Doug Owsley from the Smithsonian Museum Of Natural History was called in to conduct an archaeological investigation. What was striking about this dig was how local residents, in a spontaneous display of community support, began to arrive with their sleeves rolled up ready to work. |
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| In three days, because of the hard labor of many, the six skeletons were uncovered, documented and then transported to the Smithsonian for safekeeping and further study. | ||
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However the best tribute was paid by the many children, who wanted to know more about who these unknown heroes were. The sacrifice of those six fallen soldiers will not be forgotten by those wide and inquisitive eyes. To these unknown soldiers, who died so far from home, and for the Ideals they held so dear... We give "A Last Salute" |
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Registered Trademark ESPD®, Copyright © 1995 - 2008 All Rights Reserved. Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Web site established 1995. Last modified: November 05, 2008 .To Contact eSpd® Please write to Esp Designs |
| Note: All colorized historical pictures, maps and recovered artifacts may not be used without explicit permission , This also includes the Intellectual property and history derived from the only archeological survey ever conducted of the Ox Hill Battlefield (Chantilly) |
