On the top of this gravestone, an angel is depicted flying amid billowing clouds.  The angel is blowing a horn and carrying a laurel wreath.  The angel blows the horn to announce the coming resurrection.  The laurel wreath dates back to Roman times when soldiers wore them as triumphal signs of glory.  The laurel was also believed to wash away the soldier’s guilt from injuring or killing any of his oponents.  In funerary art the laurel wreath is often seen as a symbol of victory over death.  In this case, the angel is carved on the grave of a Revolutionary War soldier and could relate to the glory of the fallen general buried beneath the gravestone.

Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky

SACRED

TO

the memory

OF

MAJOR GENERAL

JOHN E. KING

Born Dec. 21st, 1737:

Died May 13th, 1828.

Aged 70 years 4 months

& 22 days

He was patriotick:

Brave & Hospitable.