Fort Pickett and Butterwood's Cemetery
INTRODUCTION




Name / Title
Environmental Section for Facilities Management (Cultural Resources)
Responsible for everything pre-Fort Pickett
ARPA, NHPA, NAGPRA
PART I: A few words concerning Mr. Branch P. Hudgins



Life (c. 1860)
o Lived in Dinwiddie County, Virginia
 28-yrs old, bachelor
 Living / Working on Father’s Farm
 Father:
Ransom
 Mother: Elizabeth
 Sister:
Eliza
 Slave:
William Walker
War Between the States
o April 12, 1861: Fort Sumter
o May 23 -----:
Secession
Service Record
o May 16 -----:
Enlists (Private) at Crimea (now Darvills, VA) for 12-mo.
 5 (VA) INF BN / Archer’s BN
o May 1862:
Sick at Richmond
o May/June -----: Re-enlists at Richmond for 2-yrs.
 G Co / 53 (VA) INF REGT / Armistead’s BDE / Pickett’s DIV
o Oct 1862 – May 1863: Sick at Richmond with nephritis
o July 3 -----:
Pickett’s Charge (Battle of Gettysburg)
 Of 435 effectives, more than 30-percent were casualties
 Pvt. Hudgins captured
o July 1863 – April 1864: POW
 Fort McHenry (Baltimore, MD)
 Fort Delaware (Delaware City, DE)
 Point Lookout, MD
o April 27, -----:
Exchanged at City Point, VA (now: Hopewell, VA)
o May -----:
Sick at Richmond with scurvy
o April 6, 1865:
Battle of Sayler’s Creek (near Farmville, VA)
 Approx. 1/4 of the Army of Northern Virginia captured
 Pvt. Hudgins captured
o April 9, 1865:
Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia
o April – May -----:
POW
 City Point, VA


 Newport News, VA
o June 15 -----:
Oath of Allegiance / Release
Life after the War
o Lived in Westboro (Dinwiddie / Nottoway County), VA
 1867:
Married, Betty
 They have 7 children (5 surviving)
o Last mention: Pension Application (June 20, 1908)
 “Partial Paralysis”
o 1908 – 1910:
Dies (not on 1910 Federal Census Schedule)
 Buried at Whites Chapel
Why mention him?
o Sesquicentennial of Battle of Gettysburg
o Virginia Guardsman
o January 16, 1943:
Moved to Butterwood Cemetery
PART II: Why a Cemetery at Butterwood?



Cemetery (and Church) were already here, occupying a 1-ac. Plot since 1863.
The Specter of World War II:
o Events:
 September 1, 1939:
German invasion of Poland
 1940 – 1941:
US prepares for war
 Selective Training and Service Act (September 1940)
 Lend-Lease Act (March 1941)
o US Army considered this area for a training camp for a long time
 Why?
 Rural area, good for infantry (train 2+ divisions; 15,000 men per
division)
 Railroad
 Airfield
 Spring 1941: Area surveyed by Wiley and Wilson (Lynchburg, VA) under
direction of Lt. M. C. Fox (USQM)
 Summer 1941: Appraisals prepared
 November 1941: Plans finished for cantonment construction
War Begins
o Events
 December 7, 1941:
Pearl Harbor
 December 8 -----:
US Declares War
 December 19 -----:
US War Department authorizes camp
 Initiated condemnation proceedings (eminent domain)
o 45,000-ac.
o 263 families (approx. 1200 people) – given 4 months
o 7 churches
 Birchin Hill
o
o
 Cool Springs (Baptist)
 Mercy Seat (Methodist)
 Lebanon (Methodist)
 Poplar Grove
 Spring Hill
 Whites Chapel
o 140 cemeteries
119 (of 140) Cemeteries Moved
 February 1942: Filed petition in District Court in Richmond, VA
 Maximize land open for training
 Protect cemeteries and graves from destruction
 September 1942 – May 1943: Removed by Hamner, Bevill, and Farrier
(Blackstone, VA)
 Contracted to move up to 450; Actually moved approx. 3000
 Segregation:
o Gills Bridge Road Cemetery (non-white)
o Butterwood Cemetery (white)
 Cost: $26,000
o US Army graded area, roads, fencing, sod
o Records: 983 relocated
 Sex:
 Males:
149
 Females:
155
 Unknown:
679
 Identities:
 Known: 414
 Unknown:
569
 Veterans:
 Civil War:
10
 WWI:
1
 Deed of Trust (March 3, 1942)
o Cemetery administered by Board of Trustees
o Sell remaining burial plots to fund upkeep
What did these sacrifices gain?
 January – July 1942:
Construction (Gramms, Higgins, Thompson, McDevitt
[NC])
 1,300 contractors and tradesmen
 16,000 buildings
 Max: 60,000 soldiers (end of 1943)
 1942 – 1943:
Trained 6x INF DIV and 1x AR DIV
 Medical Replacement Training Center
 Trained 150,000 medics in 16-mo
 Hospital Complex with 5,000 bed capacity