Stonewall Jackson Cemetery- Maggie Sands

I had never been to the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery before, and had only noticed it once or twice in passing along Main Street. When we walked in the entrance, I was amazed by how large it was- I had no idea.

The thing that I immediately noticed was the juxtaposition between Confederate memorabilia left on tombstones and American flags and flowers. This demonstrates how memorializing someone you have lost is very personal and can be done in contrasting ways. I was also surprised that there were many graves of servicemen in WWI or WWII in a cemetery named for a major player in the Confederacy.

Another notable aspect of the cemetery was of course the statue of Stonewall Jackson in the center. No matter where you stood in the cemetery, you could see him. Being at a higher level than all the others signifies importance and prestige. I thought the symbolism of him facing south was extremely interesting, because that is not something that I picked up on at first. I thought it was interesting that at the bottom of the statue, one of the tombstones was for one of his relatives who died in battle in France and his body was never recovered- yet, he was still honored in the cemetery at the feet of Stonewall Jackson.

Finally, I was intrigued by the simplicity of many of the tombstones. Very few had flowers or any other type of personalized offerings, and most had just a last name written on them. One that I found particularly interesting was in the shape of a bench, giving it a functional purpose. For something meant to memorialize one's life, I was curious as to why someone would choose such a basic, functional piece. Perhaps it is meant as a means of sitting and reminiscing within the memorial space.