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These pages are dedicated to the memory of all the men from North Carolina that fought in the Civil War. The Raleigh News and Observer Friday, May 20, 1881 Removal of Confederate Dead Correspondent of the News and Observer Kinston, May 18, 1881 Yesterday the authorities of Kinston began the task of removing the remains of the Confederate dead from one part of the cemetery to another, where they could be better cared for. More than 100 soldiers were buried here. All that is mortal of them will be taken to two lots—large mound raised, with appropriate monument. Only two names have been found, cut with pocket knives, on decaying head boards of pine. One, J.M. Rowe, the other D.A. Phillips, of the 6th North Carolina Cavalry. Several crania have bullet holes in them---in the front every time. Nothing can be found except bones, with here and there a bit of gray blanket and a brass button. One grave contained all the bones, except one forearm, perhaps a victim of the hospital. In one was found a cutta percha ring, half made, with a file close by. On a fleshless finger bone was found a gold ring. It is sad to look upon these remains and remember that these brave men died in vain, and that they lie unknown and unnamed far from home and friends. And the deeds that they performed are fast passing from memory, with no one to write them on the pages of history. Will some kind survivor of the fights around Kinston place on record an account of these battles? It was here that Lt. J.J. Reid, of Raleigh, fell, bravely leading Mallett’s battalion. Dr. James McKee was an officer in that same battle. Can he not write out his experiences in this neighborhood? We have heard him give a graphic account of his famous retreat to Goldsboro, a daring and successful exploit. Arachel The Raleigh News and Observer July 13, 1883 The Petersburg Index The Appeal tells the following strange story: Truly, there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy. In the early part of 1864, a short but spirited fight occurred at a place in East Tennessee called Dandridge, between a part of Longstreet’s corps and a considerable force of Federal cavalry. Many were killed on both sides. Among the Confederate dead was a man named Seaford, from North Carolina, who had been a professor of mathematics in one of the colleges of that state, and who was one of the finest looking men we ever saw. He was a private in Washington Light Infantry from Charleston, S.C., and would not accept a commission, though he was tendered one several times. He was buried on the spot where he was killed, and his comrades returned to their quarters several miles away. About two weeks after the fight, a letter came to his address. The captain of the company opened it and it proved to be from a young lady to whom Seaford was engaged to be married. It was written on the very day the fight occurred at Dandridge and related a dream the writer had just had, in which she saw Seaford lying dead on a battlefield, shot through his left breast— describing the death wound exactly as it was, and even the topography of the field, though she had never seen it, and in all probability knew nothing of the battle. She begged him to send her back a lock of his hair as a sacred memento should anything happen to him. This request was complied with by a detail of men who visited the grave, exhumed the body and sent her a lock of his hair. The Raleigh News and Observer October 4, 1883 Our Dead at Arlington Correspondent of the News and Observer Washington, D.C. Owing to the energy and ability of the president of the Raleigh Ladies’ Memorial Association, every detail of our program for the removal of the North Carolina soldiers at Arlington will be speedily and creditably carried out. It was intimated at Arlington on Saturday that it would be agreeable to the superintendent at Arlington and advantageous to us financially to secure the services of Wheatley, the Alexandria undertaker, instead of Mr. Veitch. This was promptly and amicably arranged and Mr. Wheatley went to work this morning. Every arrangement is made and the affair promises to reflect credit on the state and the efficient memorial association of Raleigh. About a half dozen ex-Confederate soldiers will accompany the bodies to Raleigh, joining the guard of honor at Weldon or whatever point Mrs. Robert H. Jones may designate. Every courtesy has been extended by Col. Batchelder and Mr. Washburn, of the War Department and Superintendent Kauffman, of the national cemetery. In the church yard of Alexandria, I find the names of the following North Carolinians who were moved from the National Cemetery at Alexandria by the Ladies Confederate Association of that city. They are buried with comrades from almost every state in one grave, marked by a pedestal bearing their names and command. The pedestal is surmounted by a funeral urn. It is very chaste and beautiful. George Washington and Robert E. Lee had pews in this old church. But to return to the names, which are: Sgt. Wm. T. White, 3rd N.C. Cavalry Gabriel Cox, 1st N.C. Wesley W. Skipper, 30th N.C. Anderson Brown, 3rd N.C. Lemuel Cheeney, 44th N.C. Below is the list of the North Carolina dead now being disinterred at Arlington, furnished me by the War Department and is therefore strictly correct and authentic, number of regiment and name of company when known. Levi Reinhart, 23rd Charles Center, 30th Elvis A. Adcock, 12th Robert Boyd, 28th T.G. Brown, 32nd Corp. G.W. Stepps, 20th Thomas Armstrong, 12th Jas. A. Bullard, 46th Wm. Dixon, 14th J.E. Hill, 18th Samuel F. Reeves, 20th A.G. Stirewalt, 5th Wm. Almond, 5th W.F. Copage, 8th Martin Stevens, 7th W.C. Morris, 4th Wm. Edison, 5th M.C. Abernathy, 37th W.L. Smith, 5th George T. Porter, 43rd Sgt. A.R. Bridgers, 2nd Asa Hamrick, 28th James D. Horsing, 49th I.S. Smith, 20th J. Morris (or Marsh), 7th Franklin Dow, C, 34th James T. Moore, G, 45th Wm. Suits, F, 45th W.H. Davis, A, 38th James Gillespie, H, 2nd Thomas M. Jones, H, 45th J.L. McFaddin, C, 24th W. Stranson, C, 43rd Noan Benson, C, 45th Richard L. Lee, I, 43rd F.M. Drake, D, 33rd Captain S.S. Brown, D, 43rd J.D. Frazier, B, 38th T.B. Lowthrop, F, 43rd Capt. N. Brady, K, 5th George Hughes, A, 8th Lt. R.M. Martin, A, 45th Wm. L. Clark, 25th Edward Bailey, A, 45th Captain S. Keys, 2nd John Burge, F, 18th Harrison Hall, E, 53rd Hiram Hagler, H, 30th J.A. Harrell, I, 53rd W. Holland, I, 6th J.A. Hiatle, K, 15th Anamas Brigman, I, 53rd Fra’s. M. Hardy, B, 30th F. Hadley, D, 28th Bright Pagge, I, 51st H. Pointer, A, 24th C.P. Griffin, D, 6th Richard Chapman, A, 6th J.C. German, D, 1st Cavalry James Davis, A, 18th M.F.(or E.) Whitaker, H, 21st L.L. Eure, B, 5th Corp. R. Fallin, D, 53rd Calvin C. Taber, G, 5th Joseph Lloyd, B, 47th G.F. Adams, D, 1st Cavalry W.E. Crawford, I, 5th John W. Dixon, I, 24th M.A. Crews, F, 2nd Unknown, H, 48th W.T. Forshee, I, 14th Jas. W. Smith, 48th R. Pendergrast, D, 43rd Jas. Miller, C, 57th J.P. Castor, 25th Eli Mitchell, G, 44th T.W. Singletary, 18th Z.H. Griffin, E, 45th Joseph Hicks, D, 56th Moses Westbrook, 20th(?) 29th(?) H.W. Davis, K, 56th Jas. H. Sailor, K, 4th G.S. Troxler, A, 53rd Wm. F. Sisk, 54th Wm. Peoples, 44th J.W. Ballentine, 30th S.J. Rogers, 15th Wm. Horton, 5th James Nipper, 47th J. Shephard, 3rd Samuel Greenway, 30th R. Lindsey, 30th C. Cannons, 14th Wm. Johnson, F, 16th Allen M. Davis, 22nd T.D. Cook, 1st Battery James Hildreth, I, 43rd Loftin Heitherout, B, 3rd Ammon Jenkins, I, 53rd Lemuel Carpenter, I, 43rd O.M. Brown, 66th John Irby, I, 5th Wm. Beck, F, 15th M.W. Ballard, E, 28th John Faust, E, 10th Artillery Wm. E. Brugwyn, C, 11th Sidney Horne, C, 53rd Colonel Bachelder tells me that 3,000 North Carolinians are buried in a trench near Elmira Prison in New York, They died in prison and nothing marks their resting place. Something must be done for these; either they must be brought back home or a monument with their names must mark the spot. Granville The Raleigh News and Observer July 14, 1888 North Carolina’s Confederate Dead Correspondent of the News and Observer Oxford, N.C., July 12 The proposition to supply headstones for North Carolina’s heroes in the beautiful cemetery of Richmond, Virginia, ought and no doubt will meet the hearty approval of Confederates spared to contribute to any good perpetuating the memory of their departed brothers. Gladly would I aid in erecting a monument on our capitol square in Raleigh and consecrated grounds that contain the dust of North Carolina’s brave sons (if it were in the power of a woman) with a suitable inscription indelibly engraved to their memory. The reading of this proposition and generous response from two of North Carolina’s most prominent men brought fresh from memory’s store the unmarked grave of fifty soldiers on private property. During a visit to Kittrells a few years ago, I entered a store to make some purchases, and from the door noticed a beautiful circle of cedars. Remarking upon the perfect uniformity of the evergreen circle as if arranged by the hand of man, the merchant looked surprised, saying: “Madam do you not recognize your own work. Like a flash of electricity, the poor soldiers who died at Kittrell Springs rushed to my memory and how, unaided by any but paid laborers, I had planted the cedar circle around their graves, placing at the head of each one I had raised and tufted, a simple board with their name traced by a rough painter’s brush. This we got from generous people at the springs. Subsequently I made an appeal to the Ladies Memorial Association of Raleigh for their removal to the Soldier’s Cemetery in Raleigh. The railroad officials promised the free transportation for the boxes, but no other aid was given and no further steps were taken for the removal. Knowing that these soldiers are buried on private property which may be cultivated for gain, the woodman’s axe will not spare the evergreen enclosure, if the plough is to level the mound and scatter the turf I had so carefully placed over the raised graves. I cannot refrain from drawing the attention of Confederate soldiers to their comrades sleeping in private grounds liable to be disturbed in after years. If considered unadvisable to remove the sacred dust cannot some interested officer attend to the purchase of the circle and have a deed of property registered for the preservation of their quiet resting place. The name of each soldier and his regiment was carefully preserved by the physician in charge of the “Kittrell Hospital”, Dr. Fairfield Butt, of Portsmouth, Virginia and no doubt his record would give some poor mother the fate of her son as it did a few years ago to one that I met, who had never known where her brave boy’s bones were buried. Hoping that this is not trespassing upon the duties of any Confederate Association, and if no steps are taken for a removal, a deed may be secured. I am, Respectfully, Mrs. S.A. Elliott Transcribed by Christine Spencer, September 2008 |