Civil War Tree

From 1861 to 1864, Delavan Civil War volunteers assembled beneath a Burr Oak tree for muster before boarding trains for Union Army training camps. The tree, approximately 242 years old, became known as the Muster Tree. A poem by Larry Phillips recalls the young men who gathered there, the farewells from wives and mothers, their departure to fight Confederate forces under General Lee, the battles they endured, the losses they suffered, and the survivors who never forgot the war. The tree still survives, bound to the memory of those who gave their lives.

Delavan, Wisconsin · United States