"Known Only To God" - Part 5

A Soldier Is Laid To Rest - July 1, 1997


🙡 Civil War Remains Buried in Cemetery 🙣

Associated Press, GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — His bones lay in an unmarked battlefield grave for more than 130 years, his fate known only to his brothers in arms, who buried him where he fell from a bullet to the head. 

On Tuesday, an unknown soldier, killed in the battle of Gettysburg and found last year, was buried by a military honor guard. On his casket were two roses, placed by widows of Civil War veterans.

"His honor is about all we know about this soldier," said the Rev. Daniel Hans. "We do not know if he lived on a farm or in a town. But we do know that he loved his home enough to fight for it and die for it."

A bugler blew "Taps" and soldiers fired a 21-gun salute -- three volleys from seven rifles -- before the solemn burial detail folded a U.S. flag with rigid precision. A brass band struck up "My County 'Tis of Thee" for a man whose identity remains unknown.

"We do not know if he wore blue or gray ... we do not know if he sang 'John Brown's Body' or whistled 'Dixie,"' Hans said. "But we do know that his soul belonged to God, as we all do."

Historian James McPherson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Battle Cry of Freedom," said that regardless of which army the soldier fought for, the end of the Civil War meant unity and healing for the nation.

Seated graveside were two women thought to be among the longest-surviving widows of Civil War soldiers. Both were young brides to aging veterans who died in the 1930s.

The National Park Service arranged the burial after it was determined that the remains found in March 1996 on the Gettysburg battlefield belonged to a soldier. He was found in an area where fighting occurred on the first day of the 1863 battle, the anniversary of which was Tuesday.

Archaeologists surmised that the man, estimated to be in his early 20s, was buried where he fell, placed in a shallow grave and covered quickly.

🙡 Daisy Graham Anderson ðŸ™£

Mrs. Daiy Anderson, the last known living widow of a Black Union soldier, died in September 1998, at the age of 97. She was married to Pvt. Robert Ball Anderson who served in the 125th United States Colored Troups. They were married in 1922 when she was 21 and he was 79.  Her husband was a slave who ran away and joined the Union Army.  Mr. Anderson died in a car accident in 1930.
From Denver, CO.

🙡 Alberta Stewart Martin ðŸ™£

Mrs. Alberta Martin was married to Pvt. William Jasper Martin who served in Company K of the 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment. She was a a widow at age 21 in 1927 when she married Martin who was 81. Mrs. Martin passed away May 30, 2004 in Enterprise, Alabama of complications of a heart attack she suffered on May 7. She was 97.
From Elba, Alabama.
🙡 Civil War Widows ðŸ™£
🙡 In The News ðŸ™£