Visited civil war battlefields

[smokymountainmike]

My great grandfather Noah Bowden was a confederate veteran and served as a private in the 60th Alabaama Infantry. I had a chance to visit some of the battlefields in with his unit fought at. The first place I visited was Chickamauga were his unit was involved the second day of the battle at Snodgrass Hill. The second location I visited was Petersburg were his unit participated in the seige of Petersburg. The next place I visited was Hatchers Run then on to the battle of White Oak Road. The last place I visited was Appomattox Courthouse were my great grandfathers name is on the list of parolees during General Lees surrender. I was very proud to visit these places anyone who has a relative that fought in the war should take the time and visit the places were history took place. I'm glad I did.

 

[Artificer]

In the early 1980's, an Alabama Lady came to Fredericksburg, VA to find the grave of her ancestor. The only thing the family had known was he fell at either Fredericksburg or Spotsylvania, but they did not know where he was buried. As it turned out her diligent research efforts paid off and with the help of the NPS, she was able to identify his unmarked grave at Spotsylvania. Though a period tombstone was not available, she was presented a modern veteran's tombstone from the U.S. Government. She had a copy of his daguerreotype hermetically sealed and encased in glass to put on the tombstone; along with his name, rank, home and date he fell. After well over 100 years, his family finally knew his final resting place. We were honored to participate in uniform and fire a salute at the dedication ceremony.

Gus

 

[tiger13]

Interesting, how could they know where he was if the grave was an unknown? Not doubting at all, just find it fascinating that they could do this! My ancestor died in New Bern NC, of sickness, along with his brother at a hospital and is buried in the national cemetery there, but I was always curious "where" the hospital might have been located at the time.

 

[Alden]

They didn't.

 

[Artificer]

The Fredericksburg NPS had original records of what units fought where, death tolls at the battles of the units, muster rolls at different periods with names and brief descriptions of those in the unmarked graves including their uniform identification. They also had remarkably good records of where and when the dead were buried. So thanks to a combination of the Lady's research, original daguerreotype of her ancestor, and other pertinent information, as well as what the NPS had and some good fortune - they were able to identify the grave.

Now was it absolutely positively 100 percent certain? Of course not, but many marked graves were not 100 percent certain either, as had been found when some graves and graveyards were moved and reinterred in more modern times.

Gus

 

[Artificer]

Oh,a P.S. to the post above, lest I not give credit where it is due. Bob Krick who was the NPS Historian there and for a total of 31 years before he retired in 2003, took a personal interest in helping the Lady find the grave. She may not or even probably would not have found the grave without Bob's help.

Bob was extremely generous with his knowledge and research experience.
Gus

 

[Grumpa]

You are blessed in the honoring of your ancestor. :hatsoff:
My great grandfather, James Snowden McElroy, 61st Rgt PA Volunteers, shared a couple of those battlefields with your ancestor.

Hearts hardened in the War began to soften long before the War ended.

 

That was my first thought too.
But unmarked and unknown are not the same thing.

 

[Artificer]

That was my first thought too.
But unmarked and unknown are not the same thing.

Exactly right.

What I did not know in the 1980's was that during the WBTS period, they recorded information as to the description of the uniform and body characteristics for those in unmarked graves, when they were able. It was much more likely this was done for individual graves than for mass graves, of course. Yet it was one thing for the information to have been recorded and that information still extant over 115 years later.

Further, it was not a casual thing to allow a modern marker to be put up in a period grave yard without a certain level of surety of documentation. I personally didn't know all the details of the amount of documentation required, but it was not allowed for someone just to plunk down a modern gravestone over an unmarked grave without it.


Gus

 

[Artificer]

I was VERY fortunate to have been stationed at Quantico, VA for so many years and lived in Stafford County or Fredericksburg. Actually in Virginia, it seems you cannot go too far without tripping over a 17th, 18th or 19th century battlefield site. Actually on every vehicle I own, I probably should have a large sign on the back that says, “WARNING. This vehicle stops at ALL Battlefield Sites.”

We were extremely fortunate to be allowed to reenact on two original Battlefield sites, at New Market Battlefield and on THE farm that was part of the ground of the Battle of Cedar Mountain in Orange County. One time we were even allowed to “sort of” reenact Pickett’s Charge on the original ground at Gettysburg. There were no opposing forces and we were not allowed to fire blanks, but were allowed to make the charge from the woods to what is now the highway. A few of the members in my Unit had ancestors from our Original Unit and who had made the charge there. I cannot begin to imagine how terrible it was during the War to make that charge.

Back in the early 80’s, I visited Drewry’s Bluff on the James River below Richmond, in a Confederate Marine Sergeant’s Uniform. At that time, they did not know that battle was where the first U.S. Marine won the Medal of Honor during the Civil War, until I informed the Head Park Ranger there. A few years later, they had one of the outdoor painting diorama’s depicting that event. Of course, they did not mention Confederate Marines fought there and was perhaps the only place where U.S. and Confederate Marines actually fired directly on each other during the war.

My problem with being able to visit where my Confederate Ancestor fought is that the family lost any records when they moved from Kentucky to Iowa after the war. So I truly envy your ability to visit where your ancestor fought.

Gus

 

[George]

But unmarked and unknown are not the same thing.

Is it possible there is a quirk in the language being used here? What exactly does 'unmarked' mean?

By coincidence, my amateur genealogist wife just showed me a document concerning an application for a headstone for a soldier who served in the 4th. Kentucky Infantry 1861-1865 and died in 1908. The document shows that in 1940 an upright headstone was requested to be shipped by the government to his relatives, where he was buried. Notice in the agreement signed by the applicant/recipient, lower right, it says the stone is for an UNMARKED grave. Governmental bureaucracies and their jargon being what they are, I think it's possible the term just means the grave hasn't been officially marked by the proper authority. This man died at home among his family, it's not very likely his grave was unmarked and unknown. The headstone is of the military type.



Spence

 

Interesting,, but.....
I wonder how many steamboat landings existed in November, 1941?

 

[Artificer]

I can't speak for all rivers or states, but our tiny town still had one at that time on the bank of the Mississippi in Iowa.

Gus