This county holds three Confederate
cemeteries,—one at Meridian, one at Lauderdale and one at Marion. The soldiers
buried in these places came from the army of Tennessee and the various
armies in Mississippi; from the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Luka Jackson,
Raymond, Baker’s Creek, Vicksburg and the battles of General N. B. Forrest
in North Mississippi.
In the cemetery in Meridian about three hundred
Confederates were buried. This cemetery was located just north of the city.
As the town grew it became necessary to grade the hill on which the cemetery
stood. The Masons and Odd Fellows donated a spot in Rose Hill cemetery,
and to this the Confederate bodies were removed; this place is known as
“The Confederate Circle.” The ladies of the Winnie Davis Chapter of the
Daughters of the Confederacy have this sacred spot in their care; they
have raised a mound and erected an appropriate monument, and keep the cemetery
in beautiful condition.
When it became known that about one hundred
fifty Confederate soldiers were buried near Lauderdale Springs, that this
cemetery was uninclosed and neglected, and that the property had been bought
by a negro, this same Winnie Davis Chapter raised funds and bought two
acres of ground in which the bodies were buried, and are making arrangements
to have it suitably enclosed at the earliest date.
With the assistance of this chapter, the Stonewall
Jackson Chapter of United Daughters of the Confederacy was organized at
Marion. This last chapter, with the co-operation of the patriotic people
of that vicinity, purchased the ground’ in which one hundred fifty or two
hundred soldiers were buried, and have inclosed it with a neat, durable
fence. Every reader will award unstinted praise to these noble ladies.
From the above facts it appears that in the
three cemeteries in Lauderdale County there are at least six hundred Confederate
dead.’
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LOWNDES COUNTY
This county has no Confederate cemetery, but
during the war a part of the Odd Fellows’ cemetery in the city of Columbus
was set apart for the burial of Conferdate soldiers, and the remains of
about eighteen hundred are resting there now. The records were lost and,
therefore, it is impossible to give all the names. The wounded were sent
there from the battlefields of Shiloh, Corinth, Harrisburg and other engagements
of General Forrest. There are two Confederate monuments within the enclosure.
In addition to the foregoing facts, from E. S. Moore, the names of the
following Confederaate soldiers, who are buried there, are taken from an
article written by Dr. W. L. Lipscomb, and published in the Columbus Dispatch,
September 21, 1902:
Sergeant E T. Bennett, Dr. John Williams, Lieut.
Col. A. K. Blythe,
Lieuts. Whitfield Morton, John Garvin, Capt. Randolph Blewett, Lieut.
McKinney Irion Octavius Williams, Dr. W. E. Sykes, Gen. Wm. Baldwin,
Col. Isham Harrison, Lieut. Thos. rield, Lieut. Wm. Carrington, Capt.
T.
I. Sharp, Col. Win. S. Barry, A. S. Robertson.
The graves of these brave and true men are
all marked by monuments erected by their respective families and friends.
These dead fell at the following places: Fort McRae, Fla.; Fort Donelson,
Shiloh, Richmond, Va.; Corinth, Decatur, Ala.; Mobile, Ala.; Harrisburg,
Miss.; Atlanta, Altoona, Ga. In the Spring of i866 the noble, patriotic
ladies of Columbus began the work of clearing off the graves of the soldiers
and decorating them with flowers. At that early date there were also the
graves of Federal soldiers at that place. All were treated with the same
reverential care, as fallen heroes and American soldiers. Afterwards the
bodies of the Federal soldiers were removed to a National cemetery. The
pious work, thus early begun, has been kept up with zeal and devotion by
the ladies of the Monumental Association and later by the Daughters of
the Confederacy. No ladies in all the South have displayed greater constancy
and intensity of devotion to this pious and exalting work of honoring our
dead soldiers than have these godly women of Columbus, Miss. They are worthy
of unmeasured praise and their example is eminently worthy of imitation
in its spirit and in its manifesta‘tion. Where so many have taken honorable
part, it may seem invidious to mention a few. Space forbids the mention
of all. As leaders in the first movement, the article referred to gives
the names of Miss Matt Morton, Mrs. J. T. Fontain and Mrs. Green T. Hill.
Among those conspicuous for honoring graves of Federal soldiers is the
name of Mrs. Augusta Murdock Cox, a lady of radiant virtues and exalted
Christian character.
Special praise is due Mrs. E. T. Sykes, who
served four years as President of the Ladies’ Monumental Association. At
the first decoration of graves in 1866 the address was delivered by the
gifted, now sainted, Dr. C. T. Stainback.
The people of Columbus claim that they erected
the first monument ever raised to Confederate soldiers.
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MADISON COUNTY
This county has a Confederate cemetery, located
in Canton. It is enclosed and well kept under the care of the noble
ladies of that town and county. In it are buried three hundred fifty bodies.
These soldiers came mostly from the Army of Tennessee and from the battles
of Shiloh and Corinth.
The citizens of Madison county distinguished
themselves by raising two monuments, one in honor of Confederate soldiers
and another in honor of Harvey’s Scouts, a heroic company of trusted and
tried men, commanded by the gallant Captain Ad Harvey.
- C. S. Priestley, Esq., Chancery Clerk of Madison county has kindly
furnished the facts upon which these statements are based.
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MARSHALL COUNTY
This county has a Confederate cemetery well
inclosed and neatly kept by the authorities of Holly Springs, and at the
expense of the city. In it are buried three hundred or more Confederate
soldiers. Some of these fell in the skirmishes in and around Holly Springs
and some died in the Confederate Hospital there.
The people of Holly Springs and the best citizens
of Marshall county generally, have shown a spirit of intelligent patriotism
and general devotion to duty in caring for the graves of these honored
dead. To their memory the citizens of Holly Springs have erected a worthy
monument.
- Hon. H. C. Myers has kindly furnished the facts upon which the
statements are based.
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MONROE COUNTY.
The following is from the gifted pen of that
noble and true citizen, Hon. W. B. Walker, who died while a member of the
State Senate in 1903:
Aberdeen, Miss., 6-21-'02
“The Daughters of Confederacy of this place, a little more than
a year ago at a crossing of two of our principal streets, erected a very
handsome and imposing monument to the Confederate dead of Monroe county.
The scheme is a life size figure of a soldier on picket duty, standing
on a shaft of marble about 12 or 15 feet high. On a pedestal, or base,
of sandstone, are inscribed the names of many Monroe county soldiers who
won honors during the war. This monument I think cost in the neighborhood
of $2,000.00 In the cemetery about three-fourths of a mile south of town,
there are about eighty graves of Confederate soldiers, buried on a plat
to themselves. The grounds are looked after and kept in good condition
by the Daughters of Confederacy, and it is inside of the enclosure around
the citizens’ cemetery.
“So far as I am informed the names of the soldiers buried in this
plat are unknown. Once a year the ladies of the town decorate these
graves with flowers, and usually have an address or some other interesting
exercises in connection therewith. They are now raising a fund for the
purpose of erecting a marble marker and headstone at each grave. I think
they have nearly enough funds in hand to accomplish that purpose.”
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MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
Mr. J. S. Cameron reports that there is no
Confederate cemetery in this county, but that the bodies of fifty-six Confederate
soldiers are buried in the Citizens’ cemetery, at Winona, of whom nothing
is known.
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NEWTON COUNTY.
This county has a Confederate cemetery, located
in the town of Newton, in which were buried about one hundred Confederate
soldiers.
During the war there was a hospital at Newton
in which were treated about i,ooo Confederate sick and wounded; 100 of
these died. These soldiers were mostly from the army at and about Vicksburg.
The grounds are not enclosed and are not well cared for. There is no monument.
About ten miles east of Newton a dreadful railroad
wreck occurred in 1863, in which seventy people were killed, sixty of whom
were Confederate soldiers. They were buried on the railroad “Right of Way,”
where the accident occurred.
- For these facts the writer makes acknowledgementto Prof. W. V.
Fant and Mr. A. J. Brown.
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