Peabody display

[Perry Cuskey 281]

Hi everybody,

Made it home last night, and I'm still wondering where the time went. Seems like I just left for Shiloh yesterday instead of leaving from Shiloh. Absolutely wonderful time, in no small part because of the people I had the chance to meet, including a number of you here. And none of you cussed at me! At least none that I know of.

I'll post more about it all later, but for now I wanted to put up a couple of pictures of the Peabody display that I told you about last week, for those of you who may not have had a chance to see it. Stacy Allen gave me permission to put up the display in conjunction with the Dawn Patrol hike since there was an obvious connection, but park regulations prevented leaving it up longer than that. So it was only up until 7:45 a.m., which was about the time that Peabody was killed in the battle, translated from 1862 time.

The display consisted of a replica headboard with inscription, a picture, and a written overview about the inscription and his brother's trip to the battlefield. Here's the display sitting near the monument on the morning of April 6th, shortly after the Dawn Patrol hike ended....

Here's a better view, with the display placed against a nearby tree...

The text reads as follows:

"Thirty-one-year-old Massachusetts native Everett Peabody commanded the First Brigade, Sixth Division, in the Army of the Tennessee at the battle of Shiloh. He was responsible for sending out the combat patrol that uncovered the Confederate army. Peabody was killed near this spot on the morning of April 6th while attempting to rally his men.

"The inscription on the small headboard you see here is a reproduction of the inscription written on the original headboard under which Peabody was buried a few days after the battle. The original inscription was probably written by Peabody's assistant adjutant-general, George K. Donnelly.

"Due to an unfortunate misunderstanding, Peabody's family in Massachusetts at first believed he was only wounded and had survived the battle. His brother Francis, on his way to Pittsburg Landing to help care for Everett, made it to Cairo Illinois before learning of his brother's death. He continued to the battlefield and made arrangements to have his brother's body removed to Springfield Massachusetts, where he was buried in the family cemetery following a large state funeral.

"Everett Peabody left behind a wife, Susan, and a two-year-old daughter, Helen, in his adopted state of Missouri.

"This small memorial was placed here on April 6th, 2012, to remember the life of a courageous officer, and a good man."

Perry

[Perry Cuskey 281]

Just occurred to me that 7:45 translates to 6:45 in 1862 rather than 8:45. I don't know why I didn't think of it that morning, but I didn't. So, count that as a bad "oops" moment for me.

Perry

[Perry Neal 6]

very goood Perry i hate i missed it on the dawn patrol but it wuz good seeing you at shiloh mayb we do it again next year

[Perry Cuskey 281]

Thanks Perry! Enjoyed meeting you as well, and listening to everyone argue over lunch. Hopefully next time I'm over that way we can hook up again.

Perry

[Wordpix John 12]

I think we entertained the whole restaurant at lunch.