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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     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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     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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     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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     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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     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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     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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