Mystery of Who is in Grave No. 4824 Solved: It Is Sgt. Ivy Ritchie of the 14th N.C.

Let's just say the South finally won one. 

The Feb. 14th Petersburg Progress-Index reported on the outcome of a mock-trial held at the historic Dinwiddie Court House. 

For the last several years there has been controversy as to whether the occupant of Grave # 4824 was Union Sgt. J. Richie of Co. H, 14th NY, US, or Sgt. Ivy Ritchie of Co. H, 14th NC, CS.

The Ivy Ritchie Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp in North Carolina, claimed that he was incorrectly buried among the 4,110 boys in blue at the Poplar Grove National Cemetery because of a clerical error. They wanted his body moved out of there but that was refused. Instead, a marker will be placed at the grave indication who he actually was.

The SCV camp, the largest in NC, produced records showing Ivy Ritchie actually existed and that he fought at Appomattox Courthouse where the body was found, and that he was the last soldier in the Army of Northern Virginia to lose his life. 

His brother Marvel Ritchie identified his older brother's body. However, in Marvel's writing, the "I"s and "J"s look alike. Also, there wasn't even a Co. H in the 14th NY. Both sides pleaded their cases before a panel of three judges who ruled with the SCV. 

But Now, He Still Has to Be With the Yankees. You'd Figure 143 years Was Enough. --The Old Blockade-Runner