oakwood and the joy of the dead
i have been writing all morning and will continue on ~ hopefully catching up and perhaps even getting ahead of the game (i am currently in about a 4k deficit ~ beh). but things are going swimmingly and i am enjoying the journey as it is so far yielding some interesting things.
like a closer look at Oakwood Cemetery (pictured above in 1865). Oakwood was the final resting place for many a soldier who died in battles around Richmond or at Chimborazo Hospital ~ and many without identification. i love, by the way, how the wikipedia entry for Chimborazo states: "It achieved a 20 percent mortality rate" like that's what it was aiming for. ironically, 20% is really low ~ Chimborazo was one of the best hospitals in the nation and certainly the best in the Confederacy at the time.
but poor Oakwood Cemetery; it would win no prizes for efficiency or effectiveness: the dead and dying poured in so quickly, that the plot was poorly managed ~ coffins were buried in piles or left to sit out in the sun for days awaiting their interment (at least some exploded a little from the gasses of putrification ~ nice). also, a number of soldiers were hauled over there prematurely, only to tell the gravediggers they were weren't dead yet. who knows how many others might have been accidentally buried alive. grave markers, where the soldier was known, were hastily constructed of wood and afterwards commonly stolen for fuel, further complicating later identification. today, about 17,000 soldiers (many unknown) are believed buried on the grounds. some of the bodies were brought from previous burials on battlefields or, conversely, disinterred from Oakwood and reburied elsewhere after the war.
but enough of a history lesson ~ the fun part for me this morning was writing a scene in which naive Mister Morse wanders out to east Richmond with a shovel and randomly volunteers to help bury the dead ~ to which the dutch foreman gives him a look like he's crazy. i really like this as an opener because what happens next shows a lot about Morse as a character very quickly without a lot of explaining ~ and that's always a nice thing.
hope everyone else is enjoying their day ~ writing or not!
: D