The Fredericksburg Luminaria

I had the opportunity last night to visit the annual Luminaria event at Fredericksburg National Cemetery. This was the 19th year the National Park Service has held the event, but it was the first year I was able to go. I'm so glad I did. I can’t begin to tell you how beautiful it was.

During the day, hundreds of Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts place flags at each of the graves. They then place white paper bags on either side of the gravestones. The bags are weighted with sand to hold them in place, and a tealight sits at the bottom of each one.

This is no small undertaking. There are 15,436 graves in the cemetery. Only 16.5% of the soldiers are identified, though. They’re all Union soldiers because National Cemeteries were reserved for members of the United States Armed Forces; Confederate dead were buried in private cemeteries throughout the South. In the Fredericksburg area, there are two: one in downtown Fredericksburg and one just down the road from us here at Stevenson Ridge near the village of Spotsylvania Court House.

At around 7:00 p.m., the Scouts go down the rows and light up the candles, and at 8:00, gates officially open for the program. The Park Service has guides available at six tour stops along the way who share stories about some of the soldiers buried in the cemetery. Chris served as one of those historians last night. “It’s such an honor to do this,” he told me as he was getting ready. “Those guys gave the ultimate sacrifice for us.” (Read more about his experience at Emerging Civil War.)

I parked near the battlefield visitor center and walked up the luminary-lined sidewalk to the cemetery gate. There, a park ranger greeted me. I walked up the main driveway, with terraces of lights curving off to my left. Then I crested the ridge at the top and had my breath taken away: Thousands of lights, like a field of fireflies, hugged the contours of the ground. Row upon row upon row. It was one of those rare “wow” moments in life.

As we commemorate Memorial Day weekend, it’s important to remember why we have the holiday. Family picnics are nice, and an extra day off is always welcome, but this is what it’s all about.