Photo Gallery
Entrance Foyer – Lake of the Woods Clubhouse
The gallery of pictures of Civil War soldiers, most ancestors of LOW residents, for several years hung on the wall opposite the Civil War artifacts cabinet near the Grille Room and Members Lounge. The pictures were taken down in January 2017 for the Clubhouse renovations. Rehanging was delayed somewhat as several levels of discussions were necessary to choose just the right place.
Members of the Clubhouse Committee in Fall of 2017 suggested placing the framed pictures in the Clubhouse entrance foyer to maximize the number of people who would see the display. We were concerned, however, about security, especially since these are loaned items, including a 154 year-old letter!
After some thought Vice President Jack Phend suggested a shadowbox. With this great idea, Board Members Craig Rains and Charles Brewer spent time designing the box with Gil Churchill, Glynn Smith and Hal Wood of the LOW Woodworkers Club. Glynn and Hal finished building the box.
On May 31, 2018 LOWA maintenance staff both installed an electrical connection and mounted the box securely to the wall. Glynn and Hal finished off the installation, including building in self-contained lighting.
On June 5, 2018 CWSG Board Members Craig Rains and Charles Brewer mounted the framed artifacts and “turned on the lights”!
Horatio Bell
Captain, Company G, 150th Pennsylvania Volunteers, 2nd Brigade (“Bucktail Brigade”)
Killed in action, Battle of the Wilderness,
May 6, 1864
Great-granduncle of John Bell of Lake of the Woods
On May 6, 1864, Captain Horatio Bell was commanding Company G along the Brock Road when Confederate forces rushed into Federal works that had been abandoned on the road when fires forced Federal troops to leave or be burned alive. The 2nd Regiment, including Bell’s company, was ordered to retake the position. Bell was one of the first men to mount the works, firing his rifle as he went. He was shot down as his troops successfully drove out the Confederates.
An 1895 regimental history by Thomas Chamberlin notes, ”He died lamented not only by his own company, but by the entire regiment and by many outside of the command, who recognized his zeal, his valor and his rugged honesty.”
In this photograph, Captain Bell’s cap has a “Bucktail,” or the tail of a white-tailed deer, affixed to it. Members of the 150th Pennsylvania Volunteers, along with the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves and the 149th Pennsylvania Volunteers, wore the tails on their caps as a regimental insignia. Thus, they were known by both armies as ”Bucktails” and were considered elite units, equipped with the best firearms and often deployed as skirmishers or sharpshooters.
Loaned by John Bell
stanley noble Potter
Corporal, Company K, 1st Regiment,
New York Mounted Rifles
Great-granduncle of Gail Potter Lloyd of Lake of
the Woods
Stanley Noble Potter of Farmersville, New York, age 20, enlisted as a private to serve a three-year tour in Company K,1st Regiment, New York Mounted Rifles.
On Aug. 3, 1863, he wrote a letter home and included thispencil sketch of himself on the back of the last page. Theletter was posted from Bowling Green, Va., less than 40miles from Lake of the Woods.
Potter kept a detailed diary while he served in the cavalry. In May 1863 he wrote that they had received news about a “most terrific battle” that is known today as the Battle of Chancellorsville. He wrote home about the “great defeat” of General Hooker’s Army of the Potomac as well as the death of “the great Confederate General Stonewall Jackson.”
Potter remained in service until after the war and was appointed corporal in August 1865, and his regiment re-designated as the 4th Provisional Cavalry. Three months later, he was mustered out with the company at City Point, near Petersburg, Va. He died at age 72 in 1915.
Donated by Gail Potter Lloyd
James Roach
Second Lieutenant, Company I,
6th Virginia Cavalry
James Roach was born in Orange County on June 12, 1834, to Robert Roach and the former Mildred Jones. Their home was located on land that is near the modern-day Lake of the Woods back gate. He was still living at home in 1860 when he was a deputy sheriff of Orange County. At age 27, he enlisted on May 4, 1861. Due to his experience as a deputy sheriff, James received quick promotions and rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant. The ”OR” on his cap stands for ”Orange Rangers,” the name given to the troopers of Company I.
James received 194 acres of his father’s farm in 1866. That land today is Lake of the Woods Section 4, the Equestrian Center and the Lake of the Woods Church, and parts of Sections 7, 8, 9 and the Main Lake.
Photo courtesy of Tom Myers of Spotsylvania
Framing gift of Pete Rainey
Benjamin Moore
Corporal, Company C,
3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry
Great-grandfather of Don Cope of Lake of the
Woods
Benjamin Moore, at the age of 19, enlisted on August 1, 1861. He fought at the Battle of Antietam in September 1862, and on November 28, 1862, he was captured at Hartwood Church in Stafford County, Va. He was paroled and sent to Camp Parole in Annapolis, Md. Subsequently, he returned to service and was mustered out of the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry on May 27, 1865.
The original photograph was hand-colored. Hand-coloring remained the easiest and most effective method to produce full-color photographic images until the mid-20th century because color photographic film was not widely available to consumers until the 1950s.
Photo restored courtesy of Don Cope
Framing gift of Pete Rainey
Simeon T. Walton
Lieutenant Colonel, 23rd Virginia
Infantry Regiment
The framed document is the original report of the meeting of officers who served under Lieutenant Colonel Simeon T. Walton, who commanded the 23rd Virginia Infantry Regiment, after Colonel Walton was killed in battle.
Lieutenant Colonel Walton was killed on November 27, 1863, at the Battle of Payne’s Farm, which was part of the Mine Run Campaign in Orange County, Va. The letter outlines the obituary written by his fellow officers and indicates it was to be sent to Walton’s family and to the newspapers in Richmond.
The top inch of the page is missing. It would likely have shown the date and location of the committee meeting.
This report was handed down through the Absalom Roach family and was found when his descendants moved from their home–known as the Life Estates–in Lake of the Woods in the 1970s.
Donated by Dan Hartwick
…was called to the Chair, and Lieut. Drury Lacy requested to act as Secretary. The Chairman explained the object of the meeting to be, to pass suitable resolutions expressive of regret at the death of Lieut. Col. S. T. Walton, who was killed in action near Bartley’s Mills, Nov. 27, 1863. On motion a committee of three, consisting of Maj. J. P. Fitzgerald, Capt. E. F. Defriest and Surg. J. M. Dennis were appointed to prepare resolutions, who having retired, returned and reported the following preamble and resolutions: Whereas it has pleased Almighty God in his inscrutable providence to remove from our midst Lieut. Col. S. T. Walton, who for the past twelve months has so ably commanded the regiment, and gallantly led it in several engagements with the enemy, and who fell whilst discharging his duty on the field, offering up his life a noble sacrifice on the altar of his Country. Therefore, Resolved, While we deeply lament his loss and miss his manly form and daring spirit, which, in time of peril and danger shone forth so conspicuously, and inspired those he led to deeds of daring, we mourn not as those without hope. Since his uniform conduct, both in camp and in the field showed that he was actuated by principles imbibed from the Word of God, and we believe that our loss has been His gain. Resolved, That we have lost in him an able commander, the service an efficient and gallant officer, who would have adorned still higher positions but for his untimely end. Resolved, That while we lament his death we will emulate his virtues and endeavor to maintain unsullied that reputation which his gallant conduct has won for those he commanded. Resolved, That we tender to his bereaved family our sympathies in their affliction, and recommend them to Him, who has promised to “be a husband to the widow, and a father to the fatherless.” Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the Richmond papers for publication, and to the family of the deceased. On motion, the meeting adjourned.
Capt. A. J. Richardson, Chairman
Drury Lacy, Secretary
