Sgt. Ivy Ritchie-- Part 4: His Death and Grave Found By His Brother

Sgt. Ivy Ritchie was killed on early April 9, 1865, in one of the final offensive moves by what was left of the vaunted Army of Northern Virginia.  Later that day, Robert E. Lee surrendered.  Imagine participation in most of the major battles of the war with ANV and then being killed on the last day?

As the sun set on Appomattox that April 9, Stanly County native Ivy Ritchie, a member of the 14th N.C. Regiment,  became the last of about 40,000 North Carolinians  to give their lives to this horrific war.

Days later, the 14th N.C.'s chaplain and two soldiers from the unit told Ivy's younger brother, Marvel, a member of the 28th N.C. Infantry Regiment, that Ivy had been killed.

In 1923, Marvel wrote in  a letter about we he did when he found out the news:  "We went to the freshly dug grave, opened the grave, and found it was Ivy....  It has been 58 years since and no one has ever disputed this statement."

--Old Secesh

More On Oliver Dart, Jr.-- Part 5: "His Face Torn Off As Though Slashed By a Cleaver"

One account of his wounding has him being left on the field until midafternoon on December 14 when General Lee agreed to let Burnside collect his wounded from the fields below Marye's Heights.  This story has been proven false by available records.

After Dart was wounded, the rest of the 14th pushed on toward the wall and Marye's Heights along with the rest of William F. French's 3rd Division of the 2nd Corps.  Here, Oliver Dart's cousin Charles was mortally wounded while carrying the regimental flag forward.

At the Rowe House, Oliver was temporarily patched up though most believed the wound to be mortal.  Regimental chaplain Henry S. Stevens wrote:  "On the northern porch lay, among others, our Dart, his face torn off as though slashed by a cleaver, and by his side lay Symonds, his eyes swollen with inflammation to the size of eggs, the sand grains showing through the tightly stretched and shining lids."

--Old Secesh

Another Confederate Buried At Arlington National Cemetery: Chaplain W.W. Bennett

From the ANC site.

WILLIAM WOODHULL BENNETT, D.D.  Born 1821.  Methodist preacher.  Served in a variety of Methodist positions before, during and after the war.  Died 1887 and buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

He led the Centenary Methodist Church in Richmond, Virginia, from 1862-1863.  He then was Superintendent of the Soldier's Tract Association and a chaplain in the Confederate Army until the end of the war.

He ran the blockade out of Charleston in the winter of 1865 and went to England to procure Bibles for the Confederate Army.  He wrote :The Great Revival in Southern Armies."

A noted educator as well.

--Old Secesh

Confederates Buried at Arlington National Cemetery: John C. Tennett

From the Arlington National Cemetery Site.

A large number of Confederates are buried at the cemetery, despite its establishment as a final resting place for Union soldiers.  Most of these Confederates died during the war, many in Washington D.C.'s Old Capitol Prison, but others were buried there going into the early 1900s.

I have listed in the last few months all the North Carolina ones (Use the label Arlington National Cemetery) except for two.  This one was in the Confederate Navy, so i will also make an entry on him in today's Running the Blockade blog.

JOHN C. TENNETT, N.C. First Assistant Engineer, CSN

Appointed from North Carolina.  Served aboard the CSS Fredericksburg in the James River Squadron in 1864.  Resigned in late 1864 and joined the Confederate Army as chap[lain.

Died July 11, 1913.

--Old Secesh