Civil War Sorrow and Salute...

I have been recently reseaching all of our family geneology and have found some of the most awesome stories about our beloved relatives published in archives that I have known nothing of until now....I am sadden....and I am thrilled and filled with amazement for ALL those WHO HAVE SUFFERED AND DIED for OUR AMERICAN FREEDOMS....IN ALL WARS.

As a child, I was raised to be PATRIOTIC by very dedicated and knowledgable parents of our nations history and world politics. (I was certainlyNOT OVERLY thrilled at that back then..ha ha but...it was my Daddy's deep passion and constantly voiced outcry of world issues. My oldest brother became an attorney working, 'living and dying' in politics...w/ both President Johnson and Kennedy. This is what I listened to throughout my younger years-politics, historical facts and patriotism for a Christian nations that is open to all....who are willing to live by the rules/law.... it's ORIGIN...GOD'S!!!!. (if the founding fathers rules are not to your liking,..... stay home or move on.hahahaha

So, naturally, now...as I grow older, I reflect on my childhood memories---those things that I used to detest, ha ha. Today tho this brings me to the great joy that I receive from doing research on our family heritage and past historical events...KNOWING that our GOD has ALREADY BLESSED AMERICA and it's Now ....time for...... "America to Bless God."


For those of you who read my blog...you know that my Great Grandfather (Caswell Culp) died in the Civil War in 1863...on the way home from the Yankee prison where he and his brother, Daniel (they married sisters)...had nearly starved to death in prison and the Yankees set them free because there was no food...not because the war was over....(that was not until 1865.) (also note....he and his brother were MUSTERED to serve the South and as my Granny told...it was not a choice...many were gathered up in wagons from where they were working.)

However, the following story is one of many, many historical publication of 'CULP's HILL....Gettysburg Battle...which was my Great Grandfathers family farm.

This is the story of two of my Great Grandfather's cousins...who were also brothers....
Wesley and William Culp.

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The Story of Wesley Culp (sorry, photo did not print)
Gettysburg National Military Park

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Pvt. Wesley Culp
One of the saddest stories of the Battle of Gettysburg is that of an Adams County, PA. family.

Wesley Culp was a native of Gettysburg. As a boy, he played in the streets of Gettysburg and hunted in the woods of Culp's Hill, which belonged to his uncle, Henry Culp. When Wesley became a teenager, he took a job with a Gettysburg harness company that manufactured leather harnesses for carriages and wagons.

Wesley Culp became a good harness maker and enjoyed his work. In 1858, the owner of the company moved his business to Shepherdstown, Virginia and Wesley decided to move with his employer. Wesley settled into his new home at Shepherdstown and made many new friends there, though he did not lose contact with his friends and family back in Gettysburg.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Wesley enlisted with many of his new friends and neighbors in the 2nd Virginia Infantry Regiment. This regiment was part of the famous "Stonewall Brigade" commanded by General "Stonewall" Jackson, which saw its first battle at Bull Run.

Back in Gettysburg, Wesley's brother William Culp enlisted in the 87th Pennsylvania Infantry, a Union regiment. Luck had it that despite the two serving in opposing armies, Wesley and William never had to face one another on the battlefield though both survived several battles and many close scrapes through the first years of the war. Though William's regiment was not at Gettysburg, the 2nd Virginia Infantry, with Private Wesley Culp in the ranks, was.

(pictures didn't come thru...sorry)
The Battle of Culp's Hill by Edwin Forbes
(Battles & Leaders)

"Culp's Hill", (Gettysburg), the one owned by Wesley's uncle Henry and the same hill on which he had explored, played, and hunted as a young man, was considered by many to be the key position on the Union Army's right flank, the "point" of the fishhook-shaped Union line.

When the Confederate army attacked the hill on July 2nd, the 2nd Virginia Infantry was part of the attacking force.

It was sometime during the fighting on July 3rd when on or nearby his uncle's hill. Wesley was buried and his grave supposedly marked by his fellow soldiers of the 2nd Virginia, though the only remains of him ever found was a rifle stock with his named carved into it.

In an interesting twist of fate another story evolved at this time.

Prior to his death...Wesley was carrying a message to be given to another Gettysburg native, Virginia "Jennie" Wade, whom Wesley had known when he lived here. The message was given him by a Union soldier named Jack Skelly, also a native of Gettysburg, who was Virginia's beau and hoped to marry the girl after the war.

However, Private Skelly was mortally wounded and captured at the Second Battle of Winchester, Virginia, on June 15. This is where that Wesley Culp discovered severly wounded, Skelly in a temporary hospital and where Wesley had agreed to take a message to Skelly's girlfriend, Virginia, in Gettysburg, just in case his regiment got close enough to Gettysburg for Wesley to deliver it.

Sadly, the note was never delivered...the sorrows of war... all three people- Wesley Culp, Jack Skelly and Jennie Wade- died without knowing the fate of the other. The note of love found upon Wesley Culps body was unable to be delivered.

Wesley's brother William Culp survived the war and left the service as an Union officer. Legend, sadly has it that William considered his dead brother a traitor for serving against his native state, and never recognized nor spoke of him again.

The Culp family was truly one divided by the war. Brothers against brothers, Fathers against sons. National archives records that 380 Culps fought and were divided in the Civil War. (136 members of the family served the Confederate Army while 244 served in Union Army, many being leading officers).


National Park Service
Gettysburg National Military Park
97 Taneytown Road
Gettysburg, PA 17325