Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Forest Hill Cemetery

Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison, Wisconsin, is the final resting place for many pioneers of Wisconsin history. There are two Shiloh connections resting mere yards apart, Governor Louis Harvey and Cassius Fairchild. Fairchild was the lieutenant colonel of the 16th Wisconsin, eventually rise to colonel of the regiment. His older brother Lucius served in the 2nd Wisconsin, was wounded at Gettysburg, losing his left arm, and would serve as Wisconsin governor from 1866 to 1872.

As noted here, Harvey died while on a tour of the hospitals after Shiloh. His wife devoted the rest of her life caring for wounded and sick soldiers. She served in the Sanitary Commission and eventually convinced Lincoln that hospitals should be built in the North for wounded soldiers. Her thinking was that it would be easier to recuperate closer to home as there would be less diseases ("camp fevers") there than in field hospitals.








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