Smallpox Island no longer exists. During the Civil War it was used to quarantine victims of smallpox from the Prison at Alton, Illinois. After the war it's grim purpose was forgotten.
In the early 1930's the Army Corp of Engineers began to dredge the island in preparation for the construction of the first lock and dam.
Every shovel full of muck revealed skeletons. The island was eventually removed.
A monument to all those who died there was erected on a man made peninsula on the western bank of the Mississippi River.
As part of the national Wreaths Across American project, members of the George E. Dixon Camp #1962, Sons of Confederate Veterans, laid wreaths at the monument. Saturday, December 15, 2012.
William Wilson was born September 2nd, 1844 in Bennett’s Bayou, Fulton County, Arkansas. He was the son of Jacob and Lydia Wilson. When the War Between the States came along, William’s father, Jacob Wilson, joined with a band of Confederate “Irregulars” while Jacob’s brother, Joshua Wilson, was a strong Unionist. On February 8, 1862, 16-year-old William and his brother, Joseph, who was 18, along with 8 to ten cousins, travelled to Howell County, Missouri and enlisted in Company C of the 4th Missouri Infantry, Confederate Forces.
The Wilson boys served together at Farmington and in the Iuka and Corinth Campaigns where Joseph was wounded and captured. He was paroled and went home. William went on to fight on to the battle of Hatchie Bridge, the final battle for Vicksburg, when his one-year enlistment was up.
After the war, William moved to Coffeen in Montgomery County, Illinois. In December of 1870 in Sharon, Fayette County, Illinois, he married Jane Browning. They were the parents of four children, two sons and two daughters. Just ten years after being married, William died on July 8, 1880 from a carbuncle. He was buried in the Browning Cemetery at Shafter.
William was much more than just a soldier in the war. He was a farmer, a husband, a father, a member of the community, and a good Christian man. He served for the Cause of the South, but went on with life. While we honor his service today as an American veteran, we also honor him for his life and the legacy he left for his posterity.
Wilson's descendants are members of the Lt. George E. Dixon Camp # 1962, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Squad East.
Joe Starek and Billy Altman demonstrate the loading of an 1861 SpringfieldRifled Musket. Video from the Freeburg, Illinois Homecoming. August 18, 2012. Joe and Billy are members of the Lt. George E. Dixon Camp #1962, Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Joe Starek, from the Lt. George E. Dixon Camp #1962, Sons of Confederate Veterans, demonstrates just how dangerous a black powder revolver can be - even when it's loaded with only powder! The Camp was set up at the Homecoming at Freeburg, Illinois on August 18, 2012.
The Village of Smithton, Illinois dedicated their Veterans Memorial on Monday, May 28, 2012. The ceremony was hosted by the Smithton American Legion Post with the assistance of Scouts from the area as well as members of the 3rd Illinois Cavalry and the Lt. George E. Dixon Camp 1962, Sons of Confederate Veterans.
The National Cemetery in Mound City, Illinois Holds a Memorial Day Celebration every year on the Saturday before the holiday. The Lt. George E. Dixon Camp,# 1962 and the Private Spence Blankenship, Camp # 1802, Sons of Confederate Veterans represented the Confederate soldiers buried there. There are over 1000 Confederates buried in the cemetery, only 45 are in marked graves.
Chris Tally played Taps during the annual memorial service held at the Confederate Cemetery in Alton, Illinois. The memorial service is sponsored by the Lt. George E. Dixon Camp #1962, Sons of Confederate Veterans.
1354 Confederate Soldiers are buried in unmarked graves. Many died of Smallpox while being held as Prisoners of War.
Chris Tally played Amazing Grace during the annual memorial service held at the Confederate Cemetery in Alton, Illinois. The memorial service is sponsored by the Lt. George E. Dixon Camp #1962, Sons of Confederate Veterans.
1354 Confederate Soldiers are buried in unmarked graves. Many died of Smallpox while being held as Prisoners of War.
Two-Fisted Tales was a bimonthly, anthology war comic published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. The title originated in 1950 when Harvey Kurtzman suggested to William Gaines that they publish an adventure comic. Kurtzman became the editor of Two-Fisted Tales, and with the advent of the Korean War, he soon narrowed the focus to war stories.
A series of special issues dedicated to the Civil War included issues 31 and 35 of Two-Fisted Tales and issue 9 of Frontline Combat. Although originally planned to be seven issues in total, the series was never completed.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Confederate Memorial Day was marked Thursday in the city where the Civil War began with a somber, reflective ceremony in which dozens of descendants of Southern troops described where their ancestors fought and many of them died.
About 100 people gathered on Charleston’s Battery as a wreath was placed at a monument dedicated to the Southern defenders of Charleston. From that spot, one can look across Charleston Harbor to Fort Sumter where the April, 1861 bombardment of the Union-held fort plunged the nation into Civil War.
Those attending, many of them members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, wore not Confederate gray but seersucker suits and straw hats under the warm May sun. About three dozen walked to the front of the gathering one at a time and then, some choking with emotion, gave the names, ranks and units of their ancestors and where they fought.
The group then sang “Dixie” and a group of Confederate re-enactors fired a cannon at nearby White Point Garden.
