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Photos by jcurtis55
INDIANA SPIRIT QUEST #608
This quest will bring you to the Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. Crown Hill is the third largest public cemetery in the United States with over 188,000 burials. There are several other caches in Crown Hill cemetery. It would be quite easy to spend a day here. The grounds open at 8:00AM and close at either 5:00 or 6:00PM, depending on the time of year. I would advise you check the Crown Hill web site if you plan on visiting late in the afternoon
This is a 2-stage multi-cache. The coordinates will lead you to the grave of Corporal John McKenzie. You will need to obtain information from the headstone of Corporal McKenzie's wife Margaret, adjacent to the headstone of Corporal McKenzie.
The final cache may be found at 39 49.CIC 86 10.JHK.
Here is how you find the remaining values of the coordinates:
Margaret McKenzie was born in the year ABCD
Margaret McKenzie died in the year EFGH
I = C + D
J = F - G
K = C - G
Battle of Spotsylvania
The Battle of Spotsylvania occurred a week after Union and Confederate troops had met in the Battle of the Wilderness. The Confederates, under the command of Robert E Lee were holding their lines at the Rapidan River in an attempt to keep the Union troops, under U.S. Grant, from reaching Richmond Virginia. The battle would last for close to two weeks and would become for a couple of things. First was the "Bloody Angle". The Confederate positions formed a wedge-shaped line as you can see from the battle map displayed. At the top was a particularly acute salient that became 'The Bloody Angle'. John McKenzie was a member of the 45th Pennsylvania that was a part of Burnside's Corp. As you can see from the battle map Burnside was given the task of attacking the east side of the salient. The action at the Bloody Angle would last for 20 straight hours and was some of the most intense fighting of the war. The battle then evolved into a series of manuevering and attempts to outflank each other. It was during this action that Corporal McKenzie would perform the act that resulted in him being awarded the Medal of Honor.
The 2nd well known incident from this battle involved Union Major General John Sedgwick. A sniper bullet had whizzed overhead when a soldier hit the ground. Sedgwick teased the soldier and said those snipers couldn't hit an elephant at that distance. Immediately thereafter the next shot shot hit the General in the cheek bone, killing him instantly.
The battle ended up as a tactical draw. The Confederates had almost an entire division worth of troops captured but were able to plug the hole in their line before the Union troops could break through. Today the battle field is part of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Historical Park.
The 45th participated in some of the most intense actions of the Civil War, fighting at Antietam, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg.
Corporal John McKenzie - Medal of Honor
Each regiment had its own flag. Capturing of an enemey regiment's colors was one of the highest honors a soldier could accomplish. Likewise, saving your unit's colors was also the apex of valor. The 45th had two medal of honor recipients in the Civil War. The first was Corporal John McKenzie for saving the 45th's colors at the Battle of Spotsylvania. The 2nd was Corporal Franklin Hogan who captured the colors of the 5th Virginia regiment at the seige of Petersburg in July of 1864.
The cache container is A SMALL pill bottle.