civil war union navy sailors illustrations

'I'd like to know some of the reasons, find out why they fought each other.'

Luchs's son Matthew, a fourth grader in Williamsburg, said that it's 'strange to know that brothers fought each other' in the Civil War. 'I'm feeling a whole bunch of different emotions, and sadness is one of them,' Luchs said. Luchs recalled hearing his mother talk about his family's involvement in the Civil War when he was a child. William Bryan was one of 16 sailors lost when the ship sank on December 31, 1862. James Bryan's brother, William Bryan, was a crewman aboard the Monitor. Luchs's ancestor, James Bryan of Savannah, Georgia, served in the Confederate Army. Michael Luchs, an assistant professor at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, who will attend the ceremony with his three sons, said the realization that he is descended from brothers who were on opposing sides during the bloody conflict makes him feel 'more wholly American.' Navy's first ironclad warship, marking a turning point in military history. The sailors' remains, recovered when part of the iconic warship was raised in 2002, will be buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. The observance will include a funeral service for two unknown sailors who died when the Monitor went down off the coast of North Carolina.

Members of a Virginia family whose ancestors fought against each other in the American Civil War will be among the thousands to gather Friday in Arlington, Virginia, for somber ceremonies honoring sailors lost when one of history's most innovative warships, the U.S.S. Monitor, sank in 1862.

Civil war union navy sailors illustrations