On Sept. 14, 1862, 39-year-old Union Major General Jesse Reno, a native Virginian, was mortally wounded by a shot to the chest at Fox Gap during the Battle of South Mountain (Md.).
At least one Rebel did not mourn his passing.
"The Yankees on their side lost General Reno," General D.H. Hill sarcastically noted in his official report, "a renegade Virginian, who was killed by a happy shot from the Twenty-third North Carolina."
Twenty-seven years later, nearly 100 Civil War veterans were among the 1,000 people who gathered for the dedication of a monument near the spot where Reno met his demise. After members of Reno's wartime staff unveiled the 8-foot granite marker and patriotic music was played, former Union General Orlando B. Wilcox delivered a speech that highlighted the general's distinguished service in the army.
But the best event of the day may have been saved for last.
"The farmers and others in the vicinity had an ample dinner spread on the grounds," reported the Herald And Torch Light, a Hagerstown, Md., newspaper, on Sept. 19, 1889, "and all of the visitors were made guests of the citizens."
|The monument at Fox Gap to Jesse Reno was dedicated on Sept. 14, 1889.|