Tag: Confederate Dead
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Lt. Colonel David Winn: A Doctor, A Letter Writer, and the Man with the Gold Teeth
One of the odd post-battle stories involves the return of David Winn’s body from Blocher’s Knoll. The officer’s body made it home . . . without his gold dental work, which had been retained by the Blocher family. The incident made headlines and inflamed feelings in the South. Often lost in the story is this:…
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The Forgotten: The Dead of the 8th Alabama Infantry at Gettysburg
With this article on the 8th Alabama Infantry and subsequent list of men, I’m starting a periodic feature on men whose combat deaths caused them to disappear and effectively be forgotten. The average age of a soldier killed at Gettysburg was roughly 22 to 23. He was typically not married and had no children. As…
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From North Carolina Planter to Iverson’s Pits: The Life and Death of Oliver Evans Mercer
The command disaster on Oak Hill that led to the infamous Iverson’s Pits cost the Army of Northern Virginia some of its most seasoned, hard-fighting men. Many of these had fought at Chancellorsville and a half-dozen other engagements, which surely made their destruction even more terrible for Robert E. Lee’s army. Not only were they…
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The Ghosts at Iverson’s Pits: Why Workers on the John Forney Farm Avoided this Burial Site
On certain foggy evenings at Gettysburg, witnesses claim to hear faint moaning voices and see pale lights floating above a quiet ridge. This unassuming patch of farmland—known as Iverson’s Pits—hides a grim legacy. Here on July 1, 1863, nearly an entire North Carolina brigade was cut down in minutes during the Battle of Gettysburg. In…
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Sarah Kime, the Jacob Kime Farm, and William McLeod
In the story of William McLeod, we saw the importance of black man Moses, who was critical in bringing McLeod home. Another key figure in the story has not been mentioned yet. In 1863, Sarah Kime was 11 years old, the oldest daughter and second oldest child of Jacob and Sarah Bucher Kime. She had…
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The Mystery of Moses Farmer, Body Servant of William McLeod
If there is a hero in the story of Lt. Colonel William McLeod, it may well be his body servant, Moses, who made not one but two trips to Gettysburg: first with William in his travels with the army and then after the war with John Prescott and at the behest of Neil McLeod. Who…
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Lt. Col. William McLeod and the 7-Year Wake
If you squint hard enough at the story of William McLeod and his brother-in-law John Prescott, you can almost see the Tarleton twins from Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. Proud Georgia boys cut down in the prime of life in defense of their homeland. Or something like that. At least, that’s how the tales…
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Guilford Ricks: The Widower who Left His Children Orphaned
Private Guilford Ricks was not your average enlisted Confederate. Contrary to media depictions, the Civil War was mostly a young man’s war—the average age of Confederates killed at Gettysburg was about 23. The average casualty was of modest means, owned no slaves, was unmarried, and had no kids. He was generally about 5’6″ to 5’8″,…
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Confederate Burials on the John Crawford Farm
The John Crawford farm, tenanted in part by Basil Biggs, ended up with a large number of Confederate burials because of its location directly behind the southern battle lines on July 2–3, 1863. When Longstreet’s assault surged through the Peach Orchard, Wheatfield, and toward Cemetery Ridge, thousands of Confederate casualties fell in that sector.
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Confederate Burials Near Basil Biggs’ Home
Burial records of Confederate dead frequently refer to someone interred near the home of Basil Biggs. Basil is probably the best known black resident of the era; he is celebrated for his role in the Underground Railroad as well as work in helping to create the National Cemetery and the Lincoln Cemetery. Basil would later…