From the October 16th Savannah Morning News "A walk through Savannah's Civil War Colonial Park Cemetery" by Richard Burkhart.
"Our cemetery is desecrated with their fortifications. The Yankees have broken open the doors of the vaults and, in one instance that I know of, the coffin of a lady was opened and a cross and chain stolen from her body. Surely such men are not human." Thus wrote one person from the city.
In December, 1864, some 60,000 Union troops and several thousand former slaves entered Savannah and had to find places to stay.
Colonial Park Cemetery became the temporary home for some of them. The cemetery had fallen into neglect some time before the occupation, but its high walls made it hard for Union officers to see and know what was going on inside the property.
December 1864 was a very cold one in Savannah and many vaults were opened for use as shelter.
Some of the Union soldiers spent idle time by altering dates and ages on the tombstones. One person became 421 years old.
Something You Don't Think About. --Old B-Runner
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