Profile Picture for Jonathan Tracey

Jonathan Tracey

Confederate, Virginia

Benjamin Watkins Leigh, Johnson’s Division

Major Benjamin Watkins Leigh came to Gettysburg as the Adjutant in “Allegany” Johnson’s Division of the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. A wealthy slaveowner who used his status to become an officer, Leigh’s administrative skill had pulled him away from field command. Famous for assisting “Stonewall” Jackson following his wounding at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Leigh also gained renown for dying as he tried to rally men of the Stonewall Brigade atop Culp’s Hill on July 3rd, 1863. For decades, Leigh’s final resting place remained uncertain, but now his complicated story can be told in its entirety.

Michigan, Union

James Bedell, 7th Michigan Cavalry

A private in the 7th Michigan cavalry, James Bedell enlisted on the day the Emancipation Proclamation took effect in 1863. Having been assigned to light patrol duty and seeing only small skirmishes, Gettysburg would be both Bedell’s first and final large battle. Brutally injured and left to die after being captured, he lingered on for weeks. Following his death, he was treated as a medical oddity to be studied, the human details of his life supplanted by scientific inquiry.