Everett Peabody, an 1849 graduate of Harvard who assisted in building the Hannibal to St. Joseph Missouri Railroad, was in the front line three miles south of Pittsburg Landing in April 1862… and felt “something was not right,” so dispatched a pre-dawn patrol that revealed Albert Sidney Johnston’s entire army about to attack the Union Camp on the Tennessee River that fateful Sunday morning. Peabody, Colonel of the 25th Missouri Volunteer Infantry took action that resulted in nearly continuous barks of gunfire, sounded the alarm and prevented a complete surprise; gained precious minutes that allowed drowsy Federal soldiers to shake sleep from their eyes, get in line and face the juggernaut. Peabody, who slept not a wink that night himself, led his own First Brigade in firing… fall back; fire… fall back… until the Colonel was at last brought down by the fourth bullet that struck him, shortly before 9 a.m. on 6 April. Initially buried at his campsite on the battlefield, Everett Peabody’s brother made the trek to Tennessee soon as he learned the news, and removed the body to Massachusetts.
Colonel Everett Peabody has a memorial at Shiloh NMP; a commemorative plaque at Harvard; and a suitable marker at Springfield Cemetery, Massachusetts. His impressive memorial at Shiloh, at the site of his first grave, most appropriately acknowledges the value of this National Hero: https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/100037/Colonel-Everett-Peabody-Monument.htm
I’ll go with John Reynolds, up in PA. Too bad we can’t attach photos to comments (if we can, I do’t see the option…). He lies in a family plot, in a neighborhood that may or may not have been there in 1863, but which looks very Victorian regardless. And to stand just a couple of yards from the remains of that corps c/o does send the proverbial shimmer up one’s spine.
While I admire Col. Peabody, and love that monument at Shiloh, I think I favor the James B. McPherson monuments, especially the death site in a quiet Atlanta neighborhood. His monument in McPherson Square, in DC, is also impressive.
Also of note are the grave markers and their stories at West Point Cemetery. MG John Buford’s memorial, while ornate and impressive, severely damaged 1LT (Breveted LTC and MOH recipient) Alonzo Cushing’s modest gravesite when it was emplaced.
Kent Masterson Brown, Cushing of Gettysburg: The Story of a Union Artillery Commander (Lexington, KY: The University Press Of Kentucky, 1998), Illustration opposite of pp. 27.
Everett Peabody, an 1849 graduate of Harvard who assisted in building the Hannibal to St. Joseph Missouri Railroad, was in the front line three miles south of Pittsburg Landing in April 1862… and felt “something was not right,” so dispatched a pre-dawn patrol that revealed Albert Sidney Johnston’s entire army about to attack the Union Camp on the Tennessee River that fateful Sunday morning. Peabody, Colonel of the 25th Missouri Volunteer Infantry took action that resulted in nearly continuous barks of gunfire, sounded the alarm and prevented a complete surprise; gained precious minutes that allowed drowsy Federal soldiers to shake sleep from their eyes, get in line and face the juggernaut. Peabody, who slept not a wink that night himself, led his own First Brigade in firing… fall back; fire… fall back… until the Colonel was at last brought down by the fourth bullet that struck him, shortly before 9 a.m. on 6 April. Initially buried at his campsite on the battlefield, Everett Peabody’s brother made the trek to Tennessee soon as he learned the news, and removed the body to Massachusetts.
Colonel Everett Peabody has a memorial at Shiloh NMP; a commemorative plaque at Harvard; and a suitable marker at Springfield Cemetery, Massachusetts. His impressive memorial at Shiloh, at the site of his first grave, most appropriately acknowledges the value of this National Hero: https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/100037/Colonel-Everett-Peabody-Monument.htm
Phil Kearny at Arlington. It matches his larger than life persona.
I’ll go with John Reynolds, up in PA. Too bad we can’t attach photos to comments (if we can, I do’t see the option…). He lies in a family plot, in a neighborhood that may or may not have been there in 1863, but which looks very Victorian regardless. And to stand just a couple of yards from the remains of that corps c/o does send the proverbial shimmer up one’s spine.
Find-a-Grave has images, here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/2754/john-fulton-reynolds
While I admire Col. Peabody, and love that monument at Shiloh, I think I favor the James B. McPherson monuments, especially the death site in a quiet Atlanta neighborhood. His monument in McPherson Square, in DC, is also impressive.
https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2017/03/03/atlanta-honoring-two-civil-war-generals-opens-discussion-race-history/chronicles/who-we-were/
https://historicsites.dcpreservation.org/items/show/370#&gid=1&pid=5
Maybe not “best” but it is notable in this topic to mention Stonewall Jackson’s amputated arm has its own granite monument at Chancellorsville.
https://www.npr.org/2012/06/28/155804965/the-curious-fate-of-stonewall-jacksons-arm
Also of note are the grave markers and their stories at West Point Cemetery. MG John Buford’s memorial, while ornate and impressive, severely damaged 1LT (Breveted LTC and MOH recipient) Alonzo Cushing’s modest gravesite when it was emplaced.
Kent Masterson Brown, Cushing of Gettysburg: The Story of a Union Artillery Commander (Lexington, KY: The University Press Of Kentucky, 1998), Illustration opposite of pp. 27.
https://armycemeteries.army.mil/Cemeteries/USMA-West-Point-Post-Cemetery