The effects of our Nation’s Civil War are indelible on the landscape of the Fredericksburg region. Tangible reminders of the cultural impact dot the countryside. Some are understated and remote. About 12 miles west of downtown Fredericksburg, on Route 3, stands the Wilderness Baptist Church. On May 2, 1863, the fabled “Flank Attack” by Stonewall Jackson’s forces swept across the surrounding ground, sending the Federal 11th Corps eastward, in a panicked rout. Along the edge of the Wilderness Baptist Church cemetery, lie a cluster of graves belonging to the Todd family, a lineage dating back to the mid eighteenth century in Spotsylvania County. One of the stones marks the final resting place of Richard Lewis Todd, b. May 8, 1836, d. May 29, 1911. Sharing this marker is his brother, Charles Robert Todd, bearing these simple lines: Killed By A Shell October 7, 1865 At Rest The inscribed date of death has led many visitors to speculate that Charles Robert Todd had perhaps been a civilian victim of an unexploded artillery shell, carelessly mishandled just six months after the war's end. Tragic incidents have been recorded that document such a fate. Often times the victims were curious children who would find "dud" projectiles, only to end up maimed or killed when a rock or hammer was 34
applied in an effort to break open their deadly find. Numerous similar incidents around Gettysburg are detailed by historian William A. Frassanito in his book Early Photography at Gettysburg. The true fate of Charles Robert Todd however, is not as some have assumed, but no less tragic. The year of his death, as it is inscribed, is incorrect. The year was mistakenly entered as 1865, when the reality was 1864. The circumstances played out roughly seventy-seven miles south of Spotsylvania, near the Darbytown Road, south east of Richmond. On October 7, 1864, Private Todd, while serving in the Fredericksburg Artillery, was killed during fighting north of Fort Harrison. According to former NPS Chief Historian Robert K. Krick's book, Wilderness Church Cemetery. The Todd graves at left foreground. Photo by the author
Close up of the Charles Todd inscription. Photo by the author