Willis Hill Cemetery

Willis Hill Cemetery (HM5I8)

Location: Fredericksburg, VA 22401
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Country: United States of America
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N 38° 17.635', W 77° 28.139'

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Inscription

— The Battle of Fredericksburg —

"There is a private cemetery on the crest, surrounded by a brick wall. Burnside's artillery had not spared it. I looked over the wall, which was badly smashed in places, and saw the overthrown monuments and broken tombstones lying on the ground."
John T. Trowbridge, 1865

This quiet hilltop graveyard, dating to the mid-eighteenth century, sheltered Confederate soldiers during the Battle of Fredericksburg. Medical personnel treated wounded soldiers behind its walls, and at least one Southern regiment paused here before charging down the hill into the Sunken Road.

By the time the battle had ended, the cemetery was a wreck. Union artillery had scoured the hill, toppling the cemetery's red brick walls and shattering its headstones. Although the damage was later repaired, the scarred marble gateposts stand as reminders of the fury that once engulfed this peaceful spot.
Details
HM NumberHM5I8
Tags
Placed ByFredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park - National Park Service - U.S. Dept. of the Interior
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Sunday, September 7th, 2014 at 1:10pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 284082 N 4241310
Decimal Degrees38.29391667, -77.46898333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 38° 17.635', W 77° 28.139'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds38° 17' 38.10" N, 77° 28' 8.34" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)540
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 1013 Lafayette Blvd, Fredericksburg VA 22401, US
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Comments 1 comments

  1. My 5th great grandfather is Henry Willis. He died at Willis Hill Fredricksburg Virginia in 1740. Was this hill or graveyard named after him I wonder? And is this the place where he was buried? It all seems kind of odd, because I have family members who fought there in the Civil War as well.

    Don Sutton

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