through the grounds of their cemetery. The account of the first Memorial Day, October 25, 1866, written by Mary Green: "The day selected for the dedication ... was bright and beautiful, one of those charming days of our Indian summers where no sound was heard save the fluttering of falling leaves – a suitable accompaniment to our sad thoughts, as we stood in the 'bivouac of the dead.'" This cemetery and one at Winchester, Virginia, were consecrated and dedicated on the same day, each sponsoring group thinking theirs was the first Confederate Cemetery. Mathew Brady captured several photographs of the battlefield. Scenes of the conflict and.its aftermath were also depicted by various artists including Adolph Metzner. 20th century The Town of Resaca was incorporated and granted a charter by the State of Georgia in 1981. Nomenclature Resacas are former channels of the Rio Grande. There are two explanations for the origin of the word "resaca." The less likely holds that it is a contraction of Spanish rio seco ("dry river"). The other is that the word stems from the Spanish resacar ("to retake"), since the primary geological function of a resaca seems to be diversion and dissipation of floodwater from the river. Resacas are naturally cut off from the river, having no inlet or outlet. Vernacular northern Mexican and other Latin American Spanish dialects translate 'resaca' as 'hangover' - undoubtedly referencing the dry cotton-mouth condition the morning after heavy alcohol consumption - as a 'dry river bed.' Anecdotes abound as to the derivation of the place name, one involving the capture of an Indian maiden by settlers to be offered in marriage to the single man of her choosing. Transported by her captors to the center of the settlement in a gunnysack, she was ceremoniously unveiled to the awaiting public. Upon seeing her in the sunlight, onlookers were aghast at her homeliness, whereupon chants of "Re-sack-'er" arose. Monastery Since 1977, the Resaca area has been the home of the Monastery of the Glorious Ascension, housed in the former midcentury modern hilltop residence purchased from the late Thurman Chitwood, local entrepreneur and ordained minister in the Church of Christ. The monastery is the only Orthodox Christian monastery in the state of Georgia. At one time it offered hospice to those afflicted with AIDS. Local detractors, with unfounded fears of casual communicability of AIDS, unsuccessfully sought to have its permitting revoked. The