Dale County AlArchives Photo place.....Lewis H. Deal (A lost Conferate Soldier) April 21 1999 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Christine Thacker http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00033.html#0008100 June 2, 2004, 9:55 am Source: The Southern Star Photo can be seen at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/dale/photos/gph426lewishde.jpg Image file size: 136.6 Kb THE SOUTHERN STAR Wednesday, APRIL 21,1999-7 A April Set As Confederate History/Heritage Month April is the month in which the Confderate States of America began and ended a four-year struggle for independence, states rights, individual freedom, and local government control. Alabama has long recognized her Confederate history and the leaders who made sacrifices on behalf of the Confederate cause, including more than 40,000 Alabamians who did not return from battle. April 26 is observed as Confederate Memorial Day in Alabama. Events celebrate Confederate History and Heritage will culminate with the annual Confederate Memorial Day Obseravance Ceremony at 10 a.m. Monday, April 26 on the Dale County Courthouse Lawn at the Confederate Veterans Monument. The ceremony will last approximately one hour with a luncheon to follow. The public is invited to attend the ceremony to honor Alabama's Confederate dead. A Lost Confederate Soldier By Robert C. Glaze Lewis H. Deal was a modest farmer in the community of Echo in Dale County, Alabama, at the outbreak of the War Between the States. In January of 1862 he left his home, his wife, his mother, and his children (in other words, everything he knew and held dear) to join the Confederate Army. He enlisted at Mobile, Alabama, into the 8th Alabama Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which held the distinction of being the first regiment in the Confederate Army to enlist for the duration of the war. He fought with honor and courage in the Battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. As the Army of Northern Virginia headed North in the Summer of 1863 to take the burden of the war off the state of Virginia and move the fighting into the hills of Pennsylvania, Pvt. Deal marched with his comrades anticipating the certain combat which would come to be known as the largest engagement on U.S. soil, the Battle of Gettysburg. As the Alabamians faced an entrenched foe at the apex of a steep, rocky hill called Little Round Top, Pvt. Lewis H. Deal would see the last of his combat experience, his country, and his life, as he charged up the slope of Little Round Top. Lewis H. Deal suffered mortal wounds on that hot afternoon of July 2, 1863,and would die from those wounds in less than 48 hours. Attended by his lifelong companion, Pvt. Deal died on foreign soil some 1,000 miles away from his home and loved ones. Up until July 2, 1998, (135 years to the day on which he suffered those mortal wounds) that is all that has been known to the many descendants of Lewis H. Deal. On my recent trip to Gettysburg for the 135th anniversary re- enactment, I stopped in Richmond, Va., to see the many historic sites which are so revered to the history of the Confederate States of America. On my tour I stopped at Hollywood Cemetery, which holds the remains of Jefferson Davis, Jeb Stuart, and many other Confederate generals and political leaders. During my drive around the pyramid honoring all Confederate dead, I noticed that there was a Gettysburg dead section down the hill from General George Pickett's grave. Intrigued, I asked how could our beloved Southern soldiers/slain on for- eign soil, be buried here in Richmond, Va., capitol of the Confederacy . Well, between June 1872 and October 1873, nearly 3,000 of our Gettysburg Confederate dead were disinterred from the Gettysburg battlefield and rebu- red in the shadow of the pyramid to rest forever in Southern soil. Beste of all, these soldiers' identifies were known to history as well as God. This amazing task was sponsored by the Hollywood Ladies Society, and supervised by Pennsylvania native and son of the man responsible for the interment of the Union dead at Gettysburg National Cemetery. Amazingly,out of the 50,000 casualties of the three days of battles at Gettysburg, Pvt. Lewis H. Deal of Co. H. 8th Alabama Infantry was among the Confederate dead found, identified, stored, and re-interred on Southern soil. The remains of Lewis H. Deal were interred in the Gettysburg dead, Confederate Soldiers section of Hollywood Cemetery in Plot No. 141. His grave is marked by a small simple marble stone, which states No. 141, provided by the Hollywood Ladies' Society in the late 1870s. All of this was known only to the Hollywood Cemetery Office officials and the curators of the Museum of the Confederacy (unknown to the family and descendants until now). Arrangements have been made through the Hollywood Cemetery Office and the Sons of Confederate Veterans Lee-Jackson Camp No.1 in Richmond, Va.,to place a VA headstone on the grave, to properly identify the remains of a Southern hero and our forefather. Every year April is Confederate History and Heritage Month in Alabama. Activities culminate with April 26 being observed as Confederate Memorial Day, a paid holiday for Alabama State employees. This year a display of Confederate artifacts, literature and art has been set up by members of the Ozark camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans at the Ozark-Dale County Public Library. The display can be viewed by the public for the entire month of April during reg- ular hours. This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 5.8 Kb