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3rd Annual Reunion at Lexington,
Virginia
7th Pa Cavalry Descendant's Association
by: Larry Fryer
The third annual reunion of the 7th Pa Cavalry
Descendant's Association was attended by 34 members on the weekend of June
15-17, 2001. The beautiful Hampton Inn at Col. Alto, Lexington, Virginia was the
headquarters for the gathering.
The reunion kicked off Friday evening at 6 p.m. with a
horse-drawn carriage ride around downtown Lexington with the 3 carriages
dropping the group off for dinner at the Il Palazzo Restaurant. After dinner
Larry Fryer welcomed all to the 3rd annual reunion, and provided a slide show
entitled "Men of Honor". The one-hour program focused on photographs
of men of the 7th Pa Cavalry.
Our tour guide "Doc" Wilmore met us at the Col.
Alto Saturday morning at 9 a.m., when he was promptly pressed into duty as group
photographer. After taking four photos of the group, he announced, "saddle
up," before catching sight of "Uncle Bob" Correll leading a small
party of four into the main camp. With cries of woe from the photo sensitive,
the troops were reassembled for take-two. It is still not known how Uncle Bob
led the small party of skirmishers so far from base camp, but it is believed
they were foraging for food.
Finally, our guide, Doc, led us on a dismounted march to
Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, where he showed us the burial site of the
famous general, as well as several other notables. After pointing out several
historic homes in downtown Lexington, we next toured Stonewall Jackson's home.
After a tour of the front campus of Washington & Lee University, we toured
Lee Chapel, where Robert E. Lee and his family are buried along with his horse,
"Traveler." A wonderful lunch was enjoyed at the Wilson-Walker House,
before continuing our tour at Virginia Military Institute, where we viewed the
grounds of the academy before visiting VMI museum.
After Doc Wilmore completed his tour of VMI, the group
returned to the Col. Alto for a few hours of free time before the Saturday
evening banquet. After dinner, Laurence Schiller gave an outstanding
presentation on the development of cavalry tactics and their usage during the
Civil War. After Doctor Schiller's presentation, the festivities continued with
the traditional selection of door prizes, with Uncle Bob Correll drawing first
seed. After his selection of a Sipe's regimental reprint, runner-up Jim Denham
choose the coveted original copy of Thomas Dornblaser's "Sabre Strokes of
the Pennsylvania Dragoons." Selections continued until everyone in
attendance received a door prize.
Descendants brought artifacts and original documents to
the reunion for all to examine. These included Martin (Bud) Yerg's bringing the
sword and accoutrements of his grandfather, Martin Yerg, Co. D. Kathi and Lonny
Wertman brought a portion of their massive document collection of Uriah and
William Hartranft, Co. D, for all to enjoy. Alan, Barbara & Michael Crippen
brought sketches of John Hall & Hallock Kennedy, Co. C, that had been done
by Lisa Pardon.
After a good nights rest, members arose on Sunday morning
and bid each other farewell and safe travel. Until we meet again.
2001
3rd Annual Reunion Ribbon