The Second Sunday after Easter
Washington Confederate Cemetery, Haggerstown, Maryland
Eve of the Second Sunday after Easter MMVII

ALMIGHTY God, who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of godly life; Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 [Source: Second Sunday after Easter, Prayer Book of 1789 as used by General Leionads Polk, the "Fighting Bishop"]

Proper Gospel appointed for this Sunday in 1861-65, St. John x. 11.

JESUS said, I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and know my sheep, and am known of mine, even as the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd.

Greetings Compatriots,

Today, the Eve of the Second Sunday after Easter, I do wonder if destiny has led me to this place in time to write to you in the shade of an very old pine tree within the bounds of the Washington Confederate Cemetery in Hagerstown, Maryland. Below and before me lie the remains of over 2,122 unnamed, and 446 named, Confederate soldiers These fallen comrades were honored here on June 12, 1877 with Major General Fitzhugh Lee delivering the address, and again on September 3, 1961, nearly a century after they fell on September 17, 1862, by General Dwight D. Eisenhower. They came to rest here because the Yankees who ran the Antietam National Cemetery refused them a Christian burial on that battleground, even though it was the original intent for all soldiers who fell at Sharpsburg to rest in the cemetery. Instead, the Southern boys remained in the shallow graves in the fields where they fell around Antietam Creek and the gaps of South Mountain.

I happened to have my laptop with me this day, which is unusual. I had stopped off at an Internet Café this morning and had noticed there was no lesson from our Kentucky Chaplain for this Sunday in my inbox for posting. I dispatched a quick email to BobbyLee alerting him and then set off for some business at Hagerstown about 25 miles up the road. Along the way, I contemplated what I might fill the lesson with for tomorrow if need be.

After finishing my business, I stopped into a restaurant where I was surrounded by paintings of the Battle of Sharpsburg. I paged through a travel guide of Maryland "Civil War" sites and came upon an entry on the Washington Confederate Cemetery located just a few miles from where I dined. I left the restaurant and turned north toward town seeking this cemetery.


Hope


Now, I sit upon this sacred ground feeling called to prepare this Sunday's lesson. Before me is the statue of "Hope." She rests upon a granite block and a pink marble pillar high above a grassy plain. On the sides of the marble pillar are credits to those who cared enough to honor the fallen Confederates with a Christian burial: Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.

I hope you shall one day have an opportunity to come to this burial ground. It is beautiful in its simplicity. The cemetery is adjacent to the Rose Hill Cemetery. It is an irregular rectangle of about 140 paces by 60 paces. An old ironwork gateway marks the old entry from the street to the cemetery with a semi-circular stone and chain fence that outlines the burial area. At intervals stand the old tall pines that mark the boundary, like the one against which I now rest. Outside the burial circle, but within the rectangle, there sits a fortress of sorts, probably used in ceremonies here.

Before the statue of Hope is the Iron Southern Cross with the motto of the Confederacy, Deo Vindice. A small Confederate battle flag stands beside it. Behind "Hope," on a suitable flagpole topped with a flure-de-lit cross, flies the Marland State Flag. Beside the flagpole is a sizable rock with a metal plaque memorializing these soldiers and their locations in the burial ground. You must forgive me for such detail, but as I sit in this cool shade with a gentle breeze against my back, I sense such a peace and rest that I cannot help but to describe the scene.

I think now of our own beloved Colonel Ben Caudill Camp, and its quest to honor our fallen forefathers through memorials and grave markers. It is ironic that as the Sharpsburg veterans were denied a burial place in the Antietam Cemetery, today we mark the graves of our Kentucky CSA veterans with US Government Veterans stones. You see, it took years for the United States to recognize these Southern veterans as her own. The people confirmed in statute, that even as these men fought on different sides, all were patriots to their homeland, all heard a call to arms (albeit different) to which they responded in faith, all are part of the same flock, and all are American veterans entitled to the respect of a thankful nation.

We hear this theme of oneness in the Gospel appointed today, the same Gospel that Southern Episcopalians heard on this particular Sunday during the Late Unpleasantness. It is one of assurance for those who have heard the Gospel of Christ, have recognized the voice of their Lord, and have followed him. They are of one flock, one fold, with one Shepherd. They may have followed different leaders to come to Christ, yet, all who unfeignedly believe his Holy Gospel are of his flock. There is no Rebel or Yankee, nor Gentile or Jew, nor slave or master, nor male or female in Christ Jesus our Lord. There are only his sheep, who hear his voice, and endeavor day by day to follow in his footsteps and live in peace and Christian love with their neighbors. I'd like to think that this hope was the inspiration of those who supported this cemetery, and erected the statue of "Hope." Hope for reconciliation. Hope for oneness under Christ. Hope for God's peace. Hope for justice. As I gaze upon the burial ground here for these "Rebel Bones," I recall that there is something else that the sheep are called to do. The sheep are called to be ready to lay down their lives for their friends and for that which they hold dear and sacred.

It would be good if all men heard the voice of the Good Shepherd and followed him, but that it not his will. In the mystery of his salvation, he has looked into the hearts of men with a vision we cannot have. From out of mankind he calls his own and they hear his voice and follow him. I thank God for all my brethren who are part of this great body of saints. I pray also for those who have a deaf ear to the Good Shepherd, especially those in our communities, and pray that God would have mercy upon them and would lay upon them such an outpouring of his Spirit that their stony hearts might be quickened, that they would repent of their sins, and hearken to the Gospel call of the Good Shepherd. Lastly, I pray for our Chaplains of the Confederacy, and for all the Sons and the Daughters of our organizations, that God would raise up amongst us all a passion to share the Good News far and wide so that the lost sheep might hear and follow the voice of their Shepherd.

Finally, as I prepare to leave Rose Hill and Washington Confederate Cemetery, I turn to our Ben Caudill Memorial site to hear taps played and to recite on my knees the simple prayer, post-bellum hymn, and poem on its page.

Let us pray:

ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead; We give thee thanks for all those thy servants who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence, that the good work which thou hast begun in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen

HYMN

Kneel Where Our Loves Are Sleeping

Kneel where our loves are sleeping, Dear ones days gone by,
Here we bow in holy reverence, Our bosoms heave the heartfelt sigh.
They fell like brave men, true as steel, And pour’d their blood like rain,
We feel we owe them all we have, And can but weep and kneel again.


CHORUS
Kneel where our loves are sleeping, They lost but still were good and true,
Our fathers, brothers fell still fighting, We weep, ‘tis all that we can do.

Here we find our noble dead, Their spirits soar’d to him above,
Rest they now about his throne, For God is mercy, God is love.
Then let us pray that we may live, As pure and good as they have been,
That dying we may ask of him, To open the gate and let us in.


Words by G.W.R.
Music by Mrs. L. Nella Sweet, 1867


POEM

Rose Hill

I went to Rose Hill yesterday,
To seek our Honored Dead.
They rest upon a hillside,
Our standard overhead.

The "Stars & Bars", so beautiful,
Majestically it waved,
So proud a banner, for the rights,
These men had fought to save.

The weathered headstones, all in rows,
So silent in their places,
Inscribed with companies, regiments,
And names upon their faces.

I sat there on that hill awhile,
Beneath the flag above,
To honor all the men below,
And the standard they did love.

Unknown author

I am reminded that on Memorial Day Weekend this year, our Colonel Ben Caudill Camp will dedicate its own Confederate Cemetery in Whitesburg, on the old Caudill place where the Confederate hospital stood. I feel assured that Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee Sons and Daughters will be able to gather there and know the same peace and feelings that I feel this day in Maryland on this sacred ground.
“ In 1869, Maryland Gov. Oden Bowie decided it was "altogether fitting and proper" and overdue for a decent burial of the Confederate dead from the battles of South Mountain, Antietam and Gettysburg scattered in hastily dug graves throughout Washington County. Bowie chose three men from Sharpsburg to search physically and compile a registry of all Confederate grave sites known to exist in the county and surrounding areas. The descriptive list would include the soldier's name (if known) and a rough location of the grave. Three years later, approximately three acres of land at Rose Hill Cemetery in Hagerstown was purchased for reinterment of the "Rebel Bones." The new site would be called the Washington Confederate Cemetery. The arduous task of exhuming and moving the Confederate remains to Hagerstown was completed by 1874. [note: other remains were moved to Mt Olivet Cemetery in Frederick and Elmwood Cemetery in Shepherdstown]”


Lest we forget

Washington Confederate Cemetery, Hagerstown, Maryland
The Reverend Lt. Colonel Mark Carroll,
Colonel Ben Caudill Camp -
Second Sunday after Easter - the Year of Our Lord 2007