The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.

Monday, June 30, 2014

NC Confederates Buried at Arlington National Cemetery-- Part 4

TOBIAS BEAVER:  CO. C, 57TH NC--  Hospitalized Richmond, Va., Oct. 16, 1862, with typhoid fever.  Furloughed 30 days Dec. 29, 1862.  Returned to duty March 1, 1863.  Captured at Battle of Chancellorsville May 4, 1863.

Confined Fort Delaware on or about May 7, 1863.  Paroled and transferred to City Point, Virginia, where he he was received May 23, 1863, for exchange.  Returned to duty prior to September 1, 1863.

Wounded in left leg (fracture) and captured at Rappahannock Station, Virginia, November 7, 1863.  Hospitalized Washington, DC where died in hospital March 27, 1864 of "secondary hemorrage."

--Old Secesh

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Second Battle of Rappahannock Station-- Part 3

Meade attacked here because he was pressured to do so by Lincoln who was upset that so little was accomplished after the victory at the Battle of Gettysburg.

He divided his force and sent General John Sedgwick to attack Rappahannock Station and General William H. French against Kelly's Ford.  Lee sent Gen. Robert Rode's force to Kelly's Ford, but they were overwhelmed..

Meanwhile, Sedgwick's force skirmished with that of Confederate Gen. Early before launching a brutal nighttime bayonet charge which easily overran the Confederate bridgehead and 1600 were captured.

--Old Secesh

Friday, June 27, 2014

Second Battle of Rappahannock Station-- Part 2

From Civil War Preservation Trust.

On November 7, 1863, the Union Army forced passage of ten Rappahannock River in Virginia at two places, Rappahannock Statin and Kelly's Ford.  They attacked at dusk and overran the Confederate bridgehead at Rappahannock Station and captured 1600 men of Gen. Jubal Early's Division.

Fighting at Kelly's Ford was less severe with 430 casualties.  The Confederates retreated at both places and the Union Army of the Potomac under Gen. George Meade, crossed the river in force.

General Robert E. lee's Army of Northern Virginia was preparing to go into winter quarters behind the Rappahannock River, but were now forced to retire to the Orange County, south of the Rapidan River.  The Union army went into winter quarters in the vicinity of Brandy Station in Culpepper County.

Again, this is where many North Carolina troops who died in Washington, D.C. hospitals were captured and later buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

--Old Secesh

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Second Battle of Rappahannock Station-- Part 1

I keep coming across this battle as I go through the list of North Carolina Confederates buried at Arlington National Cemetery and have never heard of it before.  I have heard of the Rappahannock River, though, and know a lot of action took place around it.  I now know that this one is called the Second Battle of Rappahannock Station, with an earlier one taking place in 1862.

After the Battle of Gettysburg, Lee's Army of Northern Virginia returned to Virginia and sparred with Union forces in northern Virginia until withdrawing south of the Rappahannock River for the winter, but he left a pontoon bridge across the river at Rappahannock Station.

At the north end of it he formed a bridgehead with the construction of redoubts and connecting trenches occupied by elements of his army.  they could be covered by batteries on the south side of the river.

On November 7, 1863, this bridgehead came under Union attack. This resulted in the North Carolinians being taken prisoners and dying. Eventually, they were buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

More to Come.  --Old Secesh

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

The Barnes Family in Wilson, NC

Doing research that started with Jesse or Jacob Barnes being buried at Arlington National Cemetery (see June 23rd entry), I found two other Barnes from Wilson, NC, as were the first two,  William and another Jesse.

That was several Barnes from Wilson so had to dig deeper to see if there was a connection.

The city of Wilson was incorporated in Edgecombe Co. on 29 January 1849 and named for Louis Dicken Wilson (1789-1847), a soldier from the area killed in the Mexican War.  The town's first mayor was General Joshua Barnes (1813-1890), the area's leading and most wealthy man..

He was a general in the state militia, but never saw any action and an advocate for the formation of Wilson County.  Wilson County was formed in 1855.  As such, Joshua Barnes is known as "The Father of Wilson County."

His house still stands in Wilson and he is buried at Maplewood Cemetery

I did not find any specific connection between the Barnes I have written about the last two days with him, but am sure there must have been one.  (From yesterday's William Sharpe Barnes  B. April 18, 1843 in Edgecombe County.  Died Jan. 20, 1924 in Raleigh.  Buried in Raleigh's Oakwood Cemetery.  From Find-A-Grave.)

A Lot of Barnes.  --Old Secesh

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Captain Jesse Sharpe Barnes, Co. F, 4th NC

From Civil War Talk.

I looked further into the story of the Jesse or Jacob Barnes buried at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) that I wrote about yesterday.  I am sure that this is not the Jesse Barnes at ANC.

But interesting story anyway.  The people at CWT couldn't find out much about Capt. Barnes, but through Find-A-Grave, did find out about his younger brother William Barnes, who also served in Co. F, 4th NC.

William was born in 1843 near Tarboro, NC, one of seven boys and three girls (five of whom survived).  His father was a wealthy farmer, Elias Barnes and wife Mahala Emma Sharpe (Sharp).    Around 1850, the family moved to Wilson County.  (This is the same county where the Jacob.Jesse Barnes at Wilson County was from so their likely was a family relationship.)

William enlisted in Co. F, Wilson Light Infantry, at age 18, which became a part of the 4th NC Infantry Regiment on June 28, 1861.  In late 1861, he was promoted to sergeant and later became adjutant (1st lieutenant) on March 14, 1863 and transferred to the regimental staff of Colonel Bryan Grimes.

He survived the war and died in 1924.

His older brother, Jesse Sharpe Barnes, the one in question, also enlisted in the 4th NC and served as a captain of Co. F and was killed May 31, 1862, at the battle of Seven Pines in Virginia.

--Old Secesh

N.C. Confederates Buried at Arlington National Cemetery-- Part 3

WILLIAM BEAL, PVT. CO. G, 48TH NC.  Born in Chatham County and was a laborer before the war before enlisting at age 31 (quite old) on March 11, 1862.  Captured at Bristoe Station, Virginia, October 16, 1863.  Died in a Washington hospital January 19, 1864 of "erysipelas."

GEORGE W. BERRY, PVT. CO. G, 6TH NC.  Enlisted at age 19 in Mccklenburg County, NC. May 28, 1861, for duration of war.  Transferred to Co. D of the 6th NC in June 1861.

Wounded and captured at Rappahannock Station, Va., on Nov. 7, 1863, and died in a Washington hospital Nov. 10, 1863.

ANDREW A. BOSTIAN, CORP., CO. K, 57TH NC.  Farmer from Rowan County, NC.  Promoted to corporal Dec. 20, 1862.  Hospitalized in Richmond, Va., July 11, 1863 with debility.  Furloughed for 40 days July 19th.  Returned to duty September 1, 1863.

Wounded in right side and captured at Rappahannock Station, Va., Nov. 7, 1863 and hospitalized in Washing where he died Nov. 13, 1863.

--Old Secesh

Monday, June 23, 2014

N.C. Confederates Buried at Arlington National Cemetery-- Part 2

JACOB BARNES, CO. D, 2ND NC.  There is some confusion as the person buried in the grave may be Jacob Barnes' brother Jesse Barnes.  Joseph survived the war, but Jesse didn't so there probably was some sort of clerical error.

JESSE BARNES was a corporal in 2nd NC regiment and resided in Wilson County, enlisted in Wayne County, NC at age 19, for the duration of the war.

Captured at Battle of Sharpsburg, Maryland, and paroled September 20, 1862.  Captured again at Fredericksburg, Va., on May 3, 1863 and paroled at City Point, Va., on May 10, 1863.  Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., on July 13, 1863 (perhaps during the retreat if the date is correct.

Captured at Kelly's Ford, Virginia on November 7, 1863 and confined to Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C..  Died in a D.C. hospital February 11, 1864, of typhoid fever.

Quite a Career.  --Old Secesh

North Carolina Confederates Buried at Arlington National Cemetery-- Part 1

From the ANC site.

JOHN WESLEY ARMSWORTH, 54TH NORTH CAROLINA:  Sergeant.  Farmer who owned 276 acre farm in Yadkin, NC.  He was wounded and captured at Rappahannock Station on November 15, 1863.  He wrote his last letter home on December 8th and died of his wounds January 15, 1864, leaving a widow and three children.

HILLARD A. BARBER, listed as in Co. F, 6th North Carolina, age 25.  But further sources say he was in the 6th SC.

--Old Secesh


Saturday, June 21, 2014

The Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery-- Part 2

The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) petitioned to erect a memorial at the Confederate section and on March 14, 1911, Secretary of War William Howard Taft granted the request.

The cornerstone was laid November 12, 1912.  Speakers were William Jennings Bryan and James A. Tanner, a former Union corporal who lost  both legs at the Battle of Bull Run and was, at the time, the commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans.

That same evening, President William Howard Taft addressed addressed the UDC at a reception of the DAR's Centennial Hall.

Noted sculptor Moses Ezekial designed it and it was rich in symbolism and rose 32-feet.

Buried at the base of the monument are Ezekial, Lt. Henry C. Marmaduke, CSN, Captain John M. Hickey, 2nd Mssouri and Brigadier General Marcus J. Wright who commanded a brigade at Shiloh and Chickamauga.

--Old Secesh

Friday, June 20, 2014

The Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery-- Part 1

From the ANC site.

I did not know this, but hundreds of Confederate soldiers are buried at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC).  Most even before the end of the war.  Sadly, their family members were often denied permission to decorate their graves and in some cases even denied entry because of war hatred.

However, the Spanish-American War did much to blunt sectional feelings as again northerners and southerners fought on the same side.

In June 1900, "in spirit of national reconciliation," the U.S. Congress authorized a section of ANC set aside for the burial of Confederate dead.  by the end of 1901, Confederate soldiers buried in the Alexandria, Virginia and Soldiers' Home in Washington, DC, were reinterred in that section.

Among the 482 buried there are 48 officers, 351 enlisted men, 58 wives, 15 civilians and 12 unknowns.

Their gravestones are distinct from those of Union soldiers because of their pointed tops.

--Old Secesh

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Besides Burials, Arlington National Cemetery Has a WWII Connection

Before World War II, part of what is today's Arlington National Cemetery was an experimental farm, known as Arlington Farms.  During World War II, it was converted into a huge housing complex for female workers in Washington, D.C., across the rover.

It to was known as Arlington Farms and became a favored G.I. destination.

I wrote about this place in my "Tattooed On Your Soul: World War II" blog.

An Interesting Story.  --Old Secesh

How Arlington National Cemetery Was Acquired-- Part 2

After Mary Lee, confined to a wheelchair, sent a representative instead of appearing personally to pay a $92.07 tax bill, the government seized the property.

Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs proposed the land be used as a military cemetery.  The Civil War was resulting in huge numbers of deaths and the bodies needed to be buried somewhere.

On May 13, 1864, Private William Christman of Pennsylvania, who died of peritonitis, became the first military member buried there.  To ensure that the house would forever be uninhabitable, Meigs directed that the graves be placed as close to the house as possible.  It would appear that Mr. Meigs had a bone to pick with Robert E. Lee.

In 1866, he ordered the remains of 2,111 unknown soldiers killed on battlefields near Washington, D.C., placed in a vault in Lee's former rose garden.

Nearly 4,000 former slaves are also buried in the cemetery.

--Old Secesh

How Arlington National Cemetery Was Acquired-- Part 1

From the May 28, 2012, History "Arlington National Cemetery: 8 Surprising Facts" by Christopher Klein.

As we commemorate the 150th anniversary of this, the best-known of all National Cemeteries.  The rest of the eight facts are being listed in my Cooter's History Thing Blog this week.

Robert E. Lee married Mary Custis and lived at the house and plantation for 30 years, except when on duty for the U.S. Army.    After he sided with the Confederacy, he left it and never returned.
Robert
On May 23, 1861, Union troops crossed the Potomac and occupied the 200 acre property and house that had been built by George Washington Parke Custis, Mary's father and step-son of George Washington.--

--Old Secesh


Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Civil War Movie Being Filmed At Stagville Plantation

From the June 15, 2014, WNCN (NC)  "Civil War movie being filmed at historic Stagville plantation" by Shumvriet Ratliff.

North Carolina is well-known as the site for many movie locations.  Now, there is one more film being shot in the Triangle area.

Uptone Pictures is filming "Union Bound" based on a diary written by Joseph Hooker, a Union soldier who escaped from prison in the South.

Some of the location shots have been filmed at Durham's Stagville Plantation.

At one time, the plantation consisted of over 3000 acres and had more than 900 slaves according to the 1860 census.

Other movie locales were shot in Edenton.

--Old Secesh


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Arlington National Cemetery's 150th-- Part 1

From the June 15, 2014, NPR "From Former Slaves To Writers,  Civilians, Too, Rest At Arlington."

There are 624 acres of Arlington national Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C..

Sunday, June 15th,  marked its 150th anniversary of its designation as a military burial ground on land that once belonged to U.S. Army and Confederate Army leader Robert E. Lee.

More than 400,000 men and women are interred there., most members of the Armed Forces.  But others are family members as well as civilians, including one James Parks, gravedigger.

His Story in Next Post.

Arlington National Cemetery's 150th Anniversary-- Part 2: James Parks

James Parks was born a slave at Arlington Estate before it became a cemetery and known as "Uncle Jim."  His great-granddaughter said: "He lived all his life, he worked there, and then, prior to his death he got a special approval to actually be buried in the grounds where he had been born, as well as where he worked all his life."

The estate was abandoned during the Civil War, but "Uncle Jim:" and others carried out their duties the whole time.  he said that when they started burying military bodies that they were lined up like cord wood.

A Very Fitting and Historic Burial.

Monday, June 16, 2014

150th Anniversary of Arlington National Cemetery

Yesterday, June 15, 1864, marked the 150th anniversary of Arlington National Cemetery, the former estate of Robert E. Lee.

--Old Secesh

Friday, June 13, 2014

Second Saturday, NC-Style-- Part 2

BENTONVILLE BATTLEFIELD, FOUR OAKS.  A Day in the Life of a Civil War Soldier.

The sounds of artillery and musket fire will once again ring out during the Summer Seasonal Living History Event.  Re-enactors from the 18th NC/9th New Jersey and 1stNC/11th NC will discuss the typical soldiers' life, uniforms and equipment.

Artillery and musket demonstrations will be held throughout the day.

Free.

--Old Secesh

So, That's Civil War Confederate Impressment

From the Encyclopedia Virginia, Impressment During the Civil War, Confederate.

I have to admit that before today, I'd never heard the term impressment used for an event during the Civil War/  Some more research was needed.Of course, I knew about British impressment of American seamen as a cause of the War of 1812, so figured impressment had something to do with forcibly taking something without permission.

"Impressment was the informal and then, beginning in March 1863, the legislated policy of the Confederate government to seize food, fuel, slaves, and other commodities to support the armies in the field during the American Civil War (1861-1865).

"The tax-in-kind law, passed a month later, allowed the government to impress crops from farmers at a negotiated price.

Combined with inflationary prices and plummeting morale following military defeats, impressment sparked vocal protest across the South.  Discontent was exacerbated by what was perceived as the government's haphazard enforcement of the law, its setting of below-market prices, and its abuse of labor."

--Old Secesh

Second Saturday, NC-Style: Homefront and Impressment-- Part 1

From the June 12th Beach Carolina Magazine :2nd Saturdays Events Across North Carolina June 14th" by Michael "Beach Mick" Hudson.

Every summer, the state historic sites and museums across the state offer family activities and fun across the state.

CSS NEUSE, KINSTON:  "The Homefront During the Civil War.  Learn about shortages and substitutes, homeguards, soldier relief societies and manufacture of clothing and goods during the Civil  War.

Demonstrations will include spinning, weaving and sewing.  There will be displays of care packages, impressment records and artifacts.  (Not sure what impressment records are.  Perhaps draft?  I know impressment during the War of 1812 was when the British Navy took Americabs off commerecial ships and made them British sailors.)

Free

--Old Secesh

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Where to Find Confederate Pension Records

From May 28, 2014, About.com Genealogy by Kimberly Powell.

Civil War pension records offer a rich source of details.

Union records are  fairly easy to come by as they were from the U.S. government.

Confederate pension records were issued by the states in which they lived at the time of his application.  Some states only offered pensions to maimed, wounded or indigent soldiers.  Others were eventually extended to veterans' widows as well.

Some states eventually opened pensions to all Confederate veterans for old age.

In 1958, the U.S. government opened up federal pensions to surviving Confederate veterans and their widows even though they had fought against the government.  Considering this was over 100 years after the war was over, the gesture was largely symbolic, but even so two Confederate veterans and more  than 1,000 widows were added to the rolls.

Many southern states have Confederate pension records on line and some even have digitalized copies of the whole pension record.

You can also check About.com Genealogy Confederate Pension Records: Where to find Confederate Pension Records: State by State.

--Old Secesh




Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Auction of Civil War Soldier's Skull Called Off

From the June 3, 2014, CBS News "Auction of Civil War soldier's skull canceled after protests."

I must admit that when I first heard of this, IO was appalled.  How could anyone even consider doing something like that or buying it?

The planned auction of a skull found at Gettysburg, supposedly that of a Civil War soldier has been canceled and donated by the auction company for burial with honors (which I hope he gets after all this indignity).

Estate Auction, Co. of Hershey has donated the skull to the National Park Service.

The remains were found in 1949 as a garden was being tilled  on Banner Farm in Gettysburg.  It was notarized and handwritten documents say it was recovered with 13 other artifacts about two miles north of a barn used as a field hospital at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Gettysburg Park said there were two Banner farms in Gettysburg and one was used as a field hospital.

--Old Secesh

Monday, June 9, 2014

Was Alice Whiting Waterman Related to Gen. W.H.C. Whiting?

Her maiden name being Whiting sparked my interest.  Could she have been the sister of Gen. W.H.C. Whiting of Fort Fisher?

She was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1820.  Gen.Whiting was born March 22, 1824, in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Gen. Whiting's father was Levi Whiting an officer in the 1st U.S. Artillery Regiment who was stationed in the south in the 1820s and was at Fort Pickens, guarding Pensacola, Florida, which was commanded by William Henry Chase.  (perhaps that accounted for W.H.C.'s name?

His father was transferred back north and I did read that Whiting's sister, brother and mother attended his funeral in New York City in 1865.

Maybe I'll Find Out a Family Connection?  --Old Secesh

Mrs. Waterman's "Boys"

Article by Thompson in the Wisconsin Magazine of History, Autumn 2008, Vol. 92, Issue 1, page 14.

Alice Whiting Waterman was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1820 and moved to New York City at age ten.  In 1868, she moved to Madison, Wisconsin, and tended to the graves in Confederate Rest until her death in 1897.

In 1906, the UDC erected a monument to her for her many years of service to Confederate dead.

--Old Secesh

19th Wisconsin Infantry

From Wikipedia.

The 19th Wisconsin was organized in Madison, Wisconsin, at Camp Randall and mustered into Federal service April 30, 1862, and mustered out August 9, 1865 in Richmond, Virginia.

This was the regiment initially assigned to guard the Confederate prisoners captured at Island No. 10 at Camp Randall and it was a member of this regiment that shot and killed George Washington Spears on May 16, 1862.

During the war, 2 officers and 41 enlisted men were killed in action or mortally wounded.

Three officers and 115 enlisted died from disease.

Horace T. Sands was its colonel.

They left Camp Randall after the remaining prisoners were transferred to Chicago's Camp Douglas prison.

--Old secesh

Forest Hill Confederate Cemetery

Ohio claims to have the northernmost Confederate military cemetery at Johnson's island in Lake Erie, site of an infamous prison.

Find-A-Grave has an article on Alice Waterman and picture of her tombstone.

--Old cemeter

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Forest Hill Cemetery's Confederate Rest

There are five unmarked graves at Confederate Rest.

Two graves are marked Hamilton Infmger and William Infmgr.  I wonder if they were related.

Another grave belongs to GEORGE WASHINGTON SPEARS, of Co. B, 1st Alabama Infantry regiment, who died May 16, 1862.  he was sent to Camp Randall along with two of his brothers and shot and killed in a dispute with a Union guard.

Also, there was an A.F. Spears who also died.  Was he a brother of George Washington Spears?

In addition, there are graves for Isaac Taylor and Robert Taylor.

--Old Secesh

Forest Hill Cemetery: Alice Waterman


Her middle name was Whiting and she was born near the time Confederate General W.H.C. Whiting was born and I am wondering if perhaps she was the sister of the general.

I haven't found out much about her, however.  What I have found out:

ALICE WHITING WATERMAN  (Oct. 18, 1820-September 13, 1897)

Born Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  A marker for her was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy reading: "The patron saint of Confederate Rest.  Almost single-handedly restored the Confederate cemetery at Forest Hill.  A native of New Orleans, she found the tombstones in 1868 lying amid weeds and spent 30 years maintaining the plot, planting trees and hedges, and marking the graves.  When she died in 1897, she was buried their with "Her Boys."

--Old Secesh

Friday, June 6, 2014

D-Day Was 70 Years Ago Today

Continuing with the Chicago Tribune article.

As Hank Rossetti prepared to treat the wounded, another Chicagoan, John Kraeger, 89, was flying over the English Channel toward targets in Normandy.  The Rogers Park native was a ball turret gunner on an Army Air Force B-24, providing relief for ground troops on the beaches by destroying German transportation routes.

"We flew across the channel and we bombed a road and a rail junction.  It was like mass confusion.  There (were) planes going everyplace, and we could see the ships down in the channel firing behind the invasion."

Like most of the remaining World War II veterans, Kraeger was one of  the youngest men in his unit.  "Doing that, being there, it's something you will never forget.  I was just an enlisted man, a very small cog in the big machine."

--Old Secesh

Forest Hill Cemetery-- Part 3: Alice Waterman


Every Memorial Day, U.S.flags are placed on Union graves.  The flags of their state are placed on the graves of the Confederates.

One of those Confederate graves is not of a soldier as I mentioned in the last post.  It is the grave of Alice Waterman.  By her request, after her death in 1897, she was buried at Confederate Rest with the men she had never known in life, but whom she always referred to as "My Boys."

--Old Secesh


Thursday, June 5, 2014

Forest Hill Cemetery-- Part 2: Alice Waterman Arrives


In 1868, Alice Waterman, a widow from Louisiana, moved to Madison.  Despite having lived most of her life in the North and not knowing any of the interred Confederates, she took pity on them and removed the weeds, improved the landscaping and maintained the lot at her own expense.

She placed new headboards on the graves.

Mrs. Waterman referred to the dead as "My Boys."

She had her body buried with "her boys" at her request upon her death

Today, the City of Madison takes care of Confederate Rest and Mrs. Waterman.

--Old Secesh

Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison, Wisconsin: Confederate Dead-- Part 1


The Confederate prisoners who died at Camp Randall in Madison, Wisconsin, were taken to Forest Hill Cemetery and buried side-by-side in a trenches in a section of the cemetery set aside for that purpose.  The graves were marked with wooden headboards and the area became known as Confederate Rest.

It is considered to be the northernmost Confederate cemetery.

Over time, weeds and tall grass overtook the section.  The headboards began to deteriorate.

And then, she came to take care of "My Boys."

--Old Secesh

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Guarding Confederate Prisoners at Camp Randall-- Part 3: Horrible Conditions

Lt. Col. William Hoffman, Union Army Commissary General of Prisoners visited Camp Randall and found the conditions appalling.  He immediately ordered clean clothes and bedding, proper supplies of medication and improvements in sanitary conditions.  he brought in extra military physicians and even hired civilian ones to take care of the sickness among the Confederates.

Deaths were still frequent despite his efforts.

The citizens of Madison pitched in to help as well and brought food and clothing to the prisoners until visits were curtailed due to security reasons.

--Old Secesh


Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Follow Up on Confederates at Camp Randall-- Part 2: Guarding the Prisoners

Camp Randall now had double duty.  Not only was it a training camp for Wisconsin troops, but now it was also a prisoner of war camp.  The 19th Wisconsin was training there at the time and it became their job to guard the Confederates, a job made worse because there were no fences around the camp.

They received little guard training and constantly complained of abusive language and threats from the prisoners.  On May 16, 1862, events reached a boil when a 17-year-old Union guard shot and killed one of the Southerners.

--Old Secesh

Follow Up on Confederates at Camp Randall-- Part 1: Arrived in Bad Shape

From August 14, 2009, Yahoo! Voices "The Northernmost Confederate Cemetery in the United States: Madison, Wisconsin" by Mark Hudziak.

When the captured men of the 1st Alabama started arriving from Island No. 10, curious Madison townspeople turned out at the train station to see the "enemy soldiers."  They arrived April 20th and April 24th.  The first arrivals were in relatively good shape, but not so the second group.  The first group marched to their prison at Camp Randall, but many of the second group had to be carried there on stretchers.

Island No. 10 may have been a very strategic place, but it was unhealthy to defend because of disease and water.  Its defenders often had to stand in knee-deep water in the coll days of March and April..  There was also inadequate food and very little medicine.

They arrived suffering from pneumonia, mumps and chronic diarrhea.

--Old Secesh

Monday, June 2, 2014

Civil War Sites in Wisconsin-- Part 2


Also in Madison is the northernmost Civil War cemetery at Forest Hill.  In 1862, Confederates from the 1st Alabama were captured at Island No. 10, near Cairo, Illinois, and sent as prisoners to Camp Randall.  About 120 died there and were buried in a plot that became known as Confederate Rest at Madison's Forest Hill Cemetery.  They are just a short distance from the Union burial ground at that place.

In April 1862, over 1000 members of the regiment arrived at Camp Randall and over the next two months, 140 died.  One was shot by a guard, but the others died of disease.

There is also a Forest Hill Soldiers' Lot at the cemetery where 240 Union dead are buried, most of whom died in the city hospitals during the war.  there are also veterans of the Spanish-American War and World War I buried there..  The federal government acquired this plot of land in 1886.

--Old Secesh


Civil War Sites in Wisconsin-- Part 1

From the November 1, 2013, Chicago Sun-Times by Gary Knowles

Most people don't think of Wisconsin when it comes to Civil War activity.  No battles or skirmishes were fought in the state, but things related to war did happen.

Camp Randall and the Memorial Arch in Madison are on the plot of land where the University of Wisconsin football stadium is located.  Of course, the stadium is named Camp Randall.

It was named after Wisconsin Civil War governor Alexander Randall.  More than 91,000 Wisconsin troops trained here before shipping off to war.  The memorial Arch was dedicated in 1912 and then rededicated this June.

Sitting on a mound in the memorial park around the arch are two Civil War cannons, including one that was captured at the Battle of Shiloh.  A Memorial bench was presented by the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War.  There is also a small wooden shack that was once a part of the original Camp Randall, the only remaining piece of it.

--Old Secesh