Loss and hope at Petersburg battlefield: Cemetery lodge showcases sword, burial registry, record of freed slaves

Soldier-built church was used by Freedmen's Bureau (LOC)

Emmanuel Dabney

Civil War-era documents and artifacts on exhibit in a Victorian-era lodge at Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Virginia are reminders of death and despair, but also inspire hope. The Picket spoke this week with Emmanuel Dabney, curator at Petersburg National Battlefield, about the items, which were placed in the building for this spring’s rededication of the cemetery after an extensive rehabilitation project.

Freedmen’s Bureau: ‘Sense of hope’

A single page in a Freedmen's Bureau registry conveys the challenges facing former slaves left destitute and homeless by the Civil War: “lame”; “blind”; “sick for ever.”

The lodge features a copy of a May 1866 partial census record of free people who received assistance until they had to move within about a year of the war's end because of construction of the Poplar Grove cemetery. A nurse who wrote about her experiences said between 500 and 600 people lived on the site of a well-constructed camp built and left by the 50th New York Engineer Regiment, which was stationed near the 1864-65 battlefield.

School-age residents attended schools and adults received help in getting work and caring for their families.

“There was a sense of hope that springs forward from the end of slavery,” said Dabney. 

Blacks could for a time receive justice in courts and thousands learned to read and write.

On display: Copy of National Archives document

Nurse Charlotte Elizabeth McKay recounted a conversation she had with a carpenter doing repairs on her quarters. Would he have not done better to stay with his former master in North Carolina?

“Oh, no, indeed, madam. I’m bound to believe I can do better to have my own labor. To earn a hundred dollars for another man, and not get a hundred cents for yourself, is poor business.”

The bureau was closed in 1872. Blacks saw many setbacks in the decades to come as entrenched segregation and Jim Crow laws took effect.

“I want to make clear that this site has a layered history," Dabney said. "Those layers aren’t simply Union soldiers camped here and Union soldiers buried here.” A black community – with residents who toiled and dreamed -- existed for a time.

The sword with a roundabout journey

(National Park Service photo)

Park officials were thrilled to acquire a fallen Federal officer’s sword and scabbard in 2014. “We have very little in connecting … three-dimensional artifacts to people buried at Poplar Grove,” Dabney said.

Lt. Edwin I. Coe of the 57^th Massachusetts Regiment of Volunteers was shot in the head in a June 17, 1864, attack on the battlefield. “He is in what turned out to be a series of poorly coordinated assaults on June 16, 17 and the day after his death… Union troops attacking … without all their troops at one given time,” the park curator said. The Yankees failed to break through and take vital railroad lines and Petersburg.

Lt. Edwin Coe

Like other items in the lodge, the text is concise -- so there was no room to tell the compelling, full story of the sword and scabbard, which the Picket wrote about in 2015. 

They somehow ended up for sale at a jewelry shop in Honolulu, Hawaii, before the park was contacted and purchased them. After the sword arrived, Petersburg staff took the blade to Poplar Grove. “To have it lying on top of his resting place, it doesn’t get much more powerful,” park staffer Chris Bryce told the Picket then. Officials still don’t know how the sword’s circuitous route ended up in the Aloha State.

Recording the dead

Poplar Grove’s first burial registry is on display for the first time. It was likely acquired in 1866, with the frontispiece bearing an 1869 notation. The last entry was made in the 1930s, Dabney said. All but a few dozen of the 6,100 graves in the cemetery belong to Union soldiers – the majority of them are unknown. 

Grave numbers were not entered in order; Dabney theorizes the entries were made as bodies were recovered on various parts of the sprawling battlefield and brought to Poplar Grove shortly after the war.

(National Park Service photos)

The book is open to two pages, one listing members of the U.S. Colored Troops. Some 331 African-American soldiers are buried at the cemetery. Most who are known died in hospitals. 

But not these men on page 71. “It is typical the unknown outnumber the known,” Dabney said. They are believed to have been killed in the valiant, but doomed Federal assault on the Crater.

Soldier’s emotional letter to children

Levi Hilton is believed to be among the unknown dead interred at Poplar Grove. Shortly before he was killed at Petersburg, the 37-year-old corporal with the 2^nd Michigan Infantry wrote a four-page letter that consoled his children, discussed army life, food and the danger brought by Southern snipers.

“Alsa don't be asshamed to read your Bible and treasure it up in your Memory and persuade your Sisters to do the same I want all of you Children if you love me to be good children,” Hilton wrote, according to a CNN article.

The letter, an envelope and photo were donated by a descendant who attended the cemetery rededication. They are temporarily off display, but officials expect them to return.

The lodge was part of major project at cemetery (NPS)

Petersburg overhauls cemetery in disrepair

Back during the Depression, grave markers for 6,000 Civil War soldiers were placed flat or pushed to ground level at Poplar Grove National Cemetery at what is now Petersburg National Battlefield in Virginia. This caused damage over the years to many of the markers. A slow deterioration of the rest of the sacred resting round brought outrage. Finally, on Saturday, the soldiers got their honor and respect back. The cemetery was rededicated following a comprehensive rehab. • Article

'Hard hat' tour: Petersburg will update visitors on Poplar Grove National cemetery work

Lodge walls now are violet, as they were back in 1872 (NPS)

The cemetery lodge is receiving new flooring on the first floor. Work continues on the brick wall and the base of the rostrum. Trees and grass are being planted, and the new flag pole is about ready.

And, if you register by 4:30 p.m. ET Thursday (Oct. 27.), you can participate in a two-hour guided walk Saturday and see many of the 5,000 new headstones that have been put in place so far in Poplar Grove National Cemetery at Petersburg National Battlefield.

Park ranger Betsy Dinger will conduct the two-hour “hard hat” tour at 10 a.m. this Saturday.

To make a reservation, contact Dinger at (804) 732-3531 ext. 208 or Elizabeth_Dinger@nps.gov by the deadline. Parking is available at Fort Wadsworth, located by the intersection of Halifax and Flank Roads in Petersburg.

About 6,100 Federal soldiers are buried at Poplar Grove, which has been closed since November 2015 for a major rehabilitation. The biggest project has been the replacement of all headstones, which since the 1930s had been flat on the ground. 

The park also is addressing drainage issues across the 9-acre site. Officials hope work is wrapped up this December.

The public will be invited to a rededication ceremony on April 29, 2017, Dinger said.

Where thousands of Civil War soldiers rest, there's a corner 'for ever England'

Headstone replacement continues at Poplar Grove (NPS photos)

British soldier died during flu pandemic

Resting among the 6,100 Union soldiers buried at Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Virginia are 50 service members who served during other wars or eras. Not all are American.

British Sgt. Maj. George M. Symons enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) in 1908, saw action early in World War I and was sent to Camp Lee in Petersburg, Va., to help train American soldiers preparing for the war. Less than two months later, on Oct. 8, 1918, he died during the influenza pandemic and was buried at Poplar Grove. Symons left no wife or children.

On Saturday, the cemetery, which is in the middle of a major rehabilitation project, will sponsor a Symons grave rededication. A niece living in Michigan (along with her daughter and grandson), a British liaison and an historian from what is now the U.S. Army’s Fort Lee will be among those attending the closed event. A new marker has corrected information about the UK soldier.

“He did not have family,” said Betsy Dinger, a park ranger at Petersburg National Battlefield, which manages the cemetery. “He does kind of have a family in the rest of us.”

With the exception of special events and public tours, such as one scheduled for this Saturday morning, Poplar Grove has been closed since November 2015. The biggest project has been the replacement of all headstones, which since the 1930s had been flat on the ground.

Nearly 4,000 upright headstones have been put in thus far, said Dinger.

Lodge walls now are violet, as they were back in 1872 (NPS)

The cemetery’s lodge is undergoing a major restoration, brick walls and other features are being repaired and sealed and the park is addressing drainage issues across the nine-acre site. Officials hope work is wrapped up this December.

“They are still working on the pointing on the brick wall,” said Dinger. “The new flagpole footing is coming along, as are the bases for the cannon which will be in the area around the flagpole.”

Poplar Grove holds the remains of several Native Americans who fought during the Civil War with Federal units, among them the 1^st Michigan Sharpshooters. Members of the Menominee and the Stockbring-Munsee tribes made a visit several weeks ago.

“It was a real privilege to walk around with them and learn about their culture,” said Dinger. “I was especially moved at the prayers.  You may not know a language but your heart understands the words.”

Boundary walls are being repaired and pointed. (NPS)

Dinger has been busy preparing for Saturday’s grave rededication. She speaks fondly about Symons. “My nephew says when he comes (to visit) we have to see Uncle George.”

Dinger said a speech from a British colonel and the Fort Lee historian will reflect professional camaraderie. She expects two members of the Great War Association to wear British uniforms. “Last Post,” a UK bugle call akin to “Taps,” will be played.

Because Britain did not begin repatriation of service member remains until after World War I, Symons has stayed in Virginia.

The park ranger made reference to a stanza in “The Soldier,” written by English poet Rupert Brooke.

“If I should die, think only this of me:

That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England.”

Saturday tour: The third "Hard Hat tour" of Poplar Grove is set for 10 a.m.-noon this Saturday. Reservations are necessary; contact park ranger Betsy Dinger at (804) 732-3531 ext. 208.

At Petersburg battlefield cemetery, new headstones and some discoveries

New headstones at Poplar Grove (NPS photos)

A rainy May hampered workers, but about 1,200 new headstones have been installed thus far at Poplar Grove National Cemetery at the Petersburg battlefield in Virginia.

The first of 5,600 upright markers that are replacing ones that have lain on the ground for more than 80 years were put in place in late March.

The new look is part of a multimillion project to upgrade the cemetery in Virginia. Brick boundary walls are being repointed, a lodge is being redone to return to its Victorian-era appearance and an 1897 bandstand is getting its original colors back – black support areas, a cap with an interior painted blue and the exterior red. Crews also are addressing drainage issues.

Graves that contain a known individual are receiving a new 200-pound headstone with a rounded top to ward off rain, and the signature federal shield and writing. Lighter markers for unknown individuals will have a flat top that will contain a grave number.

Petersburg National Battlefield ranger Betsy Dinger said officials hope the headstone work will be completed by December. Because the cemetery is closed, there will be no customary Memorial Day service this year.

Crews work respectfully around graves but during all the construction some items have been unearthed, said Dinger. That includes a ginger beer bottle, pottery shards and a few small personal items that may have belonged to Civil War soldiers, though that’s not certain. (It is a federal crime for individuals to use a metal detector on federal land or remove artifacts.)

The land held a family farm before the war and saw parts of the battles and siege in 1864 and 1865. The 50th New York Engineer Regiment set up camp for several months and they built quarters suitable to their occupation. 

Maj. George Ford of 50th NY at Petersburg (Library of Congress)

The U.S. Army site included an impressive church with steeple, paddocks, cabins and “raised walkways to keep them out of the mud,” said Dinger. The 50^th did a range of work at Petersburg, including construction and repair on fortifications and destroying Confederate railroads.

Engineers built this church (Library of Congress)

The 9-acre cemetery, which filled the camp space used by the Union army, was established a year after the war’s end and the church was dismantled two years after that, Dinger said. For a time, an African-American congregation worshipped inside.

About 6,200 Federal soldiers are buried at Poplar Grove; about 4,000 of them are unknown. In some instances, multiple soldiers are buried together. A few Confederates also rest at Poplar Grove.

While Poplar Grove National Cemetery remains closed, "Hard Hat Tours" are scheduled throughout the year. The next is Saturday, June 25, at 10 a.m. Reservations are necessary; contact park ranger Betsy Dinger at (804) 732-3531 ext. 208.

First headstone installed at Poplar Grove

(Courtesy National Park Service)

The first new, upright headstone at Poplar Grove National Cemetery at Petersburg National Battlefield in Virginia was installed on Tuesday. The marker is for the grave of W.H. Johnson, who served in the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT). According to one website, a William Johnson served with the 23rd USCT and was originally buried at Avery farm. See story below for details on the 18-month rehabilitation project that will replace headstones that were cut and placed on the ground more than 80 years ago.

'Proper respect': First new upright headstones to be installed at Petersburg cemetery

New headstones after arrival. (Chris Bryce, Petersburg National Battlefield)

Installation is scheduled this week for the first of 5,800 upright headstones that will replace markers that have lain on the ground at Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Virginia for more than 80 years.

“It’s one of the perks of the job to be able to restore something to where it should be to (show) proper respect and care,” said David Beaver, facility manager at Petersburg National Battlefield, home to the 8-acre resting place for Civil War soldiers.

The first 66 marble headstones arrived late last week, officials said.

About 6,200 soldiers are buried at Poplar Grove; about 4,000 of them are unknown. In some instances, multiple soldiers are buried together, hence the 5,800 number. A few Confederates also rest at Poplar Grove.

(Ann Blumenschine, NPS)

The long-awaited, multimillion-dollar rehabilitation project at the cemetery, which closed last November and is expected to reopen in mid-2017, includes significant repairs on an old lodge, repointing and mortar work on a perimeter brick wall, and drainage improvements.

“I have been very impressed when I go out there and see the work the contractors are doing,” said Ann Blumenschine, a Petersburg park ranger and public information officer. “They are taking a lot of care ... they want to do it properly.”

The U.S. military maintained the cemetery for many years before transferring it to the National Park Service.

The park superintendent in the early 1930s believed that cutting off the bases of the gravestones and placing the remaining marble on the ground was a good way to save on maintenance money during the Great Depression.

Unfortunately, hundreds of the bottoms from the sawed-off monuments found a new, inappropriate purpose. They were sold to a man who used them on the exterior of his Petersburg house and sidewalk.

Beaver, who oversees maintenance at the park’s several units, said the official likely did not have enough resources to maintain the site. “You probably had a guy who made the best decision he could. I doubt there was malice or negligence.”

Once they are removed, the old headstones -- per custom and law -- will be broken up to leave no trace of their original purpose. “They will be ground basically down to gravel,” said Beaver. (The NPS will keep a few representative samples of the old stones.)

Graves that contain a known individual will receive a new 200-pound headstone with a rounded top to ward off rain, and the signature federal shield and writing. The tops will be about 18 inches above ground.

Work is being done on brick wall (A. Blumenschine)

Lighter markers for unknown individuals will have a flat top that will contain a grave number. They will have a lower ground profile.

Park officials hope that the refurbished lodge may one day be staffed and serve as a visitor stop.

Petersburg maintains a database of soldiers buried at Poplar Grove.

“By the end of the project, we should have an electronic database with an all-weather touch screen where visitors will have access to the information we have,” Beaver told the Picket.

Over the years, much of the cemetery has settled. Low spots occasionally are covered by rainwater. Contractors will raise the ground level in certain areas.

“What makes this so unique is trying to strike the balance of keeping the historic character and material while also attempting to present a cemetery that meets the solemnity and respect due to the veterans who are buried there,” said Beaver.

Work on Columbiad used as monument (A. Blumenschine, NPS)

Instead of golf course-style grass, the park will plant historically accurate, drought-resistant grass, possibly native fescue, said Beaver. A new irrigation system will not be installed. “It is hard on the stones to use a watering system or sprinkling.”

Having the gravestones upright won’t just restore honor to the soldiers. The previous stones suffered water damage from being in a supine position. Many of the identification etchings wore away.

“In some ways it was embarrassing (with) a national cemetery to have it in the condition it was in,” said Beaver.

A lot of people worked here over the years to raise awareness of the cemetery’s needs, the official said. “By the time it is done. I am looking forward to feeling like we have done our part.”

While Poplar Grove National Cemetery remains closed, "Hard Hat Tours" are scheduled throughout the year. The first is Saturday, April 30, at 10 a.m.  Reservations are necessary; contact park ranger Betsy Dinger at (804) 732-3531 ext. 208.

First delivery of new headstones (Chris Bryce, NPS)