Library of Congress

Oakwood Cemetery

Among the many scenes recorded by photographers in Richmond after the war-torn Confederate capital fell to Union forces in April 1865 was this view of Oakwood Cemetery, founded by the city in 1854. The graves of Confederate soldiers are spread across the landscape almost as far as the eye can see, marked only by wooden stakes of various shapes. Most of the graves in the foreground were of soldiers who died during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862. Chronic shortages of stone and other tombstone materials had left only wooden planks for headboards, and years of exposure took their toll on the humble markers. The tall gravestone in the foreground at right identifies the resting place of Private George W. Doss, a soldier in Co. A of the 11th Alabama Infantry, who was wounded at the Battle of Glendale on June 30, 1862, and died in Richmond on July 18. These graves remain today, the wooden boards replaced by stone markers set in the ground every 10 feet or so.

Bob Zeller is president of the nonprofit Center for Civil War Photography, which is devoted to collecting, preserving, and digitizing Civil War images.