Fort Fisher Soldier Finally Returned Home

From the Nov. 14th Fayetteville (NC) Observer.

Private Edward Cashwell was 29-years-old when he enlisted in the Confederate Army and left his wife and five children to protect his home in North Carolina. He never saw combat, but contracted typhoid fever and died 15 months later, May 13, 1863, at a Fort Fisher hospital.

His remains were never returned to his family living in Cumberland and Bladen counties. Instead, he was buried in a mass grave near the hospital. Hopefully, his family was notified. I'm no sure that fear of the spread of the disease might have been the reason or perhaps the family was too poor to bring the body home or the Confederate government too busy with arracking Union armies.

However, on November 13th, the Sons of Confederate Veterans buried a casket containng dirt from the mass grave next to his wife, Elizabeth Riley Cashwell, who died in 1914. The grave is in a small cemetery east of Stedman, on NC-24.

Six more bodies (perhaps died of typhoid fever as well) are buried in that mass grave at Fort Fisher. The SCV intends to find their names and return them to their homes as well.

This is the first time I've ever heard about the mass grave and hospital at the fort. Guess I'll have to do some research.

A Fine Thing This Organization Is Doing. --Old B-Runner