On behalf of the Ladies Memorial Association of Fredericksburg, I would like to thank the Duff McDuff Green Jr. Fund of the Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region for their recent grant award.

The Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery was established by the Ladies Memorial Association of Fredericksburg, organized on May 10, 1866. The purpose of our corporation since its inception has been to maintain the grounds and mark, identify, and decorate the graves of the Confederate soldiers interred here. The cemetery was dedicated in May of 1870 to the 3,553 Confederate soldiers who were killed on four area battlefields and reinterred here. One of the earliest Memorial Day observances in the country was held at this cemetery. As it has for nearly 150 years, this tradition continues annually on Memorial Day.

Over the years, many of the soldiers' stones have been damaged by age and weather and we are constantly repairing these. We have also lost many old trees in the cemetery to storms and age.

This grant will allow us to continue to pay for the damaged gravestones as well as start a tree program that will replace some of the trees we have lost over the years.

Ginnie Branscome

Fredericksburg

Virginia Branscome is president of the Ladies Memorial Association of Fredericksburg.