Brother, where art thou? A dogged New Yorker traveled twice to Virginia to retrieve body of sibling killed at the Wilderness. A Fredericksburg park volunteer and a descendant put together the poignant story, which is showcased in an exhibit

2nd Lt. Horace Hill (NY State Military Museum via Wayne Historians Organization), national colors of the 111th New York (NY State Military Museum) and park volunteer Steve Morin 

In spring 1864, Francis Abner Hill set out to do something thousands of others in his situation would have wanted to do, but did not have the money, time or tenacity.

Francis planned to bring back to Upstate New York the body of his younger brother, 2^nd Lt. Horace Gilbert Hill, killed just a week before, on May 5, while leading his company at the Wilderness in Virginia.

The military action was still too hot in the area and Francis wasn’t allowed to search for the grave. But signs of his persistence were evident in his many visits to military hospitals in Washington, D.C., apparently to glean helpful information from wounded members of the 111^th New York Infantry. He wanted to know if any of them knew where Horace was laid to rest.

Those interviews and letters sent to veterans and families after his return to Wayne County set the ground work for his second – and successful – trip to find Horace and bring the 23-year-old home (Hill family monument, right, courtesy Nancy Rosin).

“Francis Hill’s successful recovery efforts were not a common occurrence in the Civil War,” wrote Steve Morin, a retired federal government researcher and volunteer at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, in a report about the sibling’s search for Horace. And such efforts did not blunt the pain.

“Returning a Civil War soldier’s remains helped to establish a degree of closure, but it didn’t erase the lifelong anguish caused by the loss," according to Morin.

For years, the volunteer has transcribed documents for the park’s historical database. His curiosity routinely takes him to the internet to learn more about his subjects, as was the case in the Hills.

This spring, Morin turned to Ancestry.com for photographs and learned of a Hill family tree put together by Nancy Rosin of Rochester. “She answered my Ancestry message and I was floored when she told me she was Francis’s great-great-granddaughter,” he told the Picket in an email. Rosin is related through the maternal side of her family.

Using records (including a copy of Francis Hill's diary) already held by the park and letters and photographs from Rosin, the pair completed a compelling portrait of a family that sought closure amid its grief. 

On Friday evening (5p-7p Jan. 2), Morin spoke at a reception at the city's Fredericksburg Visitor Center about the project. The reception kicked off an exhibit about volunteers and their roles in supporting the mission of the federal park. 

“Finding Nancy was fortunate because she possessed so many letters, images, etc. that filled in gaps and provided personal insights into the family members,” Morin said. (At left, Francis and his wife Sophia, courtesy Nancy Rosin)

The researcher told FXBG Neighbors he likens his work using primary documents to solving a puzzle. (Read this Picket article about how he helped identify a grave at Fredericksburg National Cemetery)

“I have always loved the way he views history,” Ashley Ranalli, volunteer coordinator at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, told FXBG Neighbors.

“To me, Steve is looking to understand the people he is researching and make a connection.”

Rosin told the Picket that Morin provided context on documents her family kept for 165 years. Other relatives also have material related to the brothers.

Lt. Horace Hill's 1864 pocket diary (NPS photo)

"My collaboration with Steve centered on the letters themselves. In the collection, there were about 40 letters written following Lieut. Hill’s death, from fellow soldiers and military officials tending to the details of pay owed, the return of personal effects, etc." Rosin said.

"But many of the letters were from area families whose sons had also died in the Wilderness and who, similarly, wanted to bring their remains home. Those letters were very helpful in unraveling the story of Francis’s recovery of his brother’s remains."

'Ready to defend the stars and stripes'

Horace Hill enlisted early in the war when he was 19 years old, Rosin said.

"A description of him written by a friend described him as popular with the girls and fond of staying out late at parties/social gatherings. When he left for the war, Horace and a young woman named Amanda Franklin were in a serious relationship and some of his letters home indicate they were planning a life together at war’s end," she wrote in an email. (Horace, left, before the war. Courtesy Nancy Rosin)

Hill served in another New York regiment before joining the 111^th. He rose to sergeant and then second lieutenant in 1863. He fought in numerous battles, including Gettysburg, where the regiment suffered heavy casualties.

In March 1863, he wrote to Francis saying he wish he had expressed more appreciation for their relationship. "Your kindness is fully appreciated by a brother who tonight is a soldier sitting in his tent shedding bitter tears of regret as he remembers how little he manifested the love of a brother in days gone."

Horace Hill had a premonition of his death, according to a fellow officer with the 111^th.

On the evening  of May 5, 1864, in the vicious fighting at the Wilderness, Company A tangled with Confederates. According to “Military History of Wayne County,” Hill was waving his sword, trying to rally his men, when he was instantly killed by a ball passing through his chin and neck. His body was found after Confederates retreated.

NPS map of Wilderness fighting around the time Lt. Horace Hill was killed.
The 111th New York is indicated near rectangle bearing Barlow's name. Click to enlarge

The young officer was buried at a farm with other soldiers. His family did not know the location.

The Rochester Express carried this pithy article about his death, according to a Facebook page about the 111^th New York.

“Lieutenant Hill was almost idolized by the men under his command. He had gained that respect, not only by being an ever true and faithful soldier, but also by kindly caring for his men. His heart swelled with proud emotions at the thought of his country's glory, and he was ever ready to defend the stars and stripes from the insults of traitors. Though comparatively unknown his name may well stand side by side with Ellsworth, Lyon, Wadsworth, Sedgwick, and a host of others; heroes whose names generations yet unborn shall love to read and revere. He fell as a hero falls. Amid the carnage of battle, he yielded up his life, a noble sacrifice, for ‘God and home, and native land,’ and that God in whom he trusted will surely reward him.”

Francis Hill, an Ontario, N.Y., businessmen who cared for his ailing parents rather than enlist, decided to quickly find his brother’s remains. He used Horace’s 1857 diary, according to Morin, to take notes of his trip, including expenditures and notations. 

The diary highlighted the extensive planning, research, logistics and costs associated with returning Lt. Hill to his home near Lake Ontario, according to Morin. While he was not permitted to travel to the front in May 1864, Francis visited numerous hospitals in the Washington area.

Morin’s report -- which includes an extensive bibliography -- summarizes what Francis learned during and after his first visit to Virginia. Among the findings was his brother was buried near fellow New York 2nd Lt. James W. Snedaker (right, courtesy Wayne Historians Organization).

The plots were on the farm of William A. Stephens of Spotsylvania County, close to the battlefield.

Interestingly, Horace’s sword and scabbard had been sent to a Washington hospital after his death. The family later acquired it but Rosin said she is unaware of who has it in their possession.

Brother, father of another soldier communicated

Francis Hill, who was often called Abe or Abner by friends, planned to return to Virginia in late November 1864 and he received a letter (left, click to enlarge) from the U.S. Army authorizing his travel to the grave site. 

Business and personal matters, however, delayed his trip to summer 1865, shortly after the war ended.

In the diary, Francis noted directions to the Stephens farm, which held the bodies of several 111^th New York soldiers.

At some point, Francis communicated with Adrastus Snedaker, father of killed Lt. James Snedaker. Francis and Adrastus had been in touch with a private who saw Horace after the latter's death and helped bury him, carving out a marker with an ax.

"This soldier wrote a very detailed letter to Francis that described his brother’s burial, the condition of the remains, and what he carved on the grave marker," said Morin. 

Adrastus Snedaker retrieved his son’s body in June 1865, one month before Francis was able to go and find Horace’s remains. Horace Hill was laid to rest at Ontario Center Cemetery. (Findagrave.com photo below courtesy Bob Davis)

"Horace now lies buried in a small pioneer cemetery on Ridge Road in Ontario, just a short distance from the Hill family homestead and the old mill pond, surrounded by three generations of his family," Rosin told the Picket.

One of his older military coats belongs to the Sterling Historical Society in New York.

For his part, Francis Hill, a prominent farmer, miller and town official, was married to Martha Sophia Patterson and they had five children, three of whom lived to adulthood. Their daughter, Martha Stella Hill, is Rosin's great-grandmother.

According to a diary, Francis wrote on April 24, 1874, about being at the beside of his dying mother.

“Her sufferings have been severe, but her death was peaceful and apparently easy and she retained consciousness almost to the last moment. A few minutes before she ceased to breathe and while laying partially on the left side she opened her eyes in apparent pleasure and exclaimed 'Horace G: Why Horace' as though she saw him & then spoke to him.”

Francis died in Ontario, N.Y., in 1903 at age 68.

"This story is important because it describes in such a personal way the impact of war on the lives of ordinary people. I think of my family, living in a small farming community, then their lives upended by the outbreak of the war," said Rosin.

"People often focus on the 'pomp and circumstance' of war -- the battles, the valor, etc. I think the story of Francis and Horace brings home the loss and grief in war’s aftermath. And of course, it’s a very touching story about the love of family…as Lieut. Hill put it, 'those near and dear to me.'”

Exhibit will look at work of park volunteers

Ranalli, the volunteer coordinator at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, said the exhibition will be in place through Feb. 2. The visitor center is at 601 Caroline St., Fredericksburg, Va.

Morin was given the Hill documents to transcribe and found them to be intriguing, Ranalli said.

“Steve’s research into the story of the Hill brothers was inspired by several primary sources from the park’s bound-volume collection,” she said in an email. “This collection was started in the 1970s by then-chief of Interpretation Bob Crick, who sent college students to campuses across the country to photocopy primary documents related to the park. In the 1990s, the collection was opened to the public, and this particular item was likely donated by a visitor, possibly a relative of the Hill family.”

Rosin said the Francis Hill diary came to the park through relatives of one of his sons. She was not aware it existed until the park contacted her.

The exhibit portion about the Hills is entitled “In Search of Rest” and was created in partnership with the Fredericksburg tourism bureau.

“This marks the first time the Fredericksburg City Visitor Center has featured an exhibit highlighting the work of National Park Service volunteers,” added Ranalli.

A letter from Horace to his mother Elvira

Rosin provided the Picket a letter Lt. Horace Hill wrote to his mother shortly before his death.

Camp of 111th N.Y.V. Inf.

                                                                                                  April 23/64

My Dear Mother

     It being a kind of lonely dreary night and not feeling much like going to bed yet awhile I have taken my pen to write you a little. For the past two weeks we have been busy much of the time in preparing to move & we have gotten about ready so that should it not storm within a day or two, I think we will strike tents & be off for where of course I know not. But most likely it will not be very long ere we come upon the enemy at some point. With what anxiety are the soldiers of this army contemplating the results of the next few months which are fast drawing near. Not only the army but those at home are anxiously awaiting to know the fate of our army. Nearly everyone has a son, brother or some near relative here who is about to risk his life amid the dangers of the battlefield. Some will fall. A battle cannot be fought without some lives being lost. Who are the fated ones is the question asked by all of us. None of us think that it is ourselves or at least have a hope that it is not yet. We all run the same risk. I have been lucky thus far but for all of that I may be the first of many to stand in the way of some fatal shell. But I feel it is my duty to stand by my country as long as she is in trouble & if I fall while protecting her right against her enemies I shall die in a noble cause. One for whom thousands have laid down their lives. Am I not ready and willing to do as much if it will help to plant the standard of right over our nation? I am. Is it not better to die than live under the hand of tyranny, despotism?

     Yet when I think of home & friends who are dear I cannot help feeling sad & in a measure dread what is before us. I may pass through unharmed but there are many who will not. They have parents and friends who to them are as dear as mine. It is the same for them to leave them that it is for me. O Mother it is a sad, sad thing to look upon & I would to God that this evil war would cease before another life is lost upon the battlefield. But there are not such thoughts that cheer the soldiers’ hearts as is the thought of the happy days in store for him when he shall have cleared the land of the nations enemies & he shall have laid down his implements of warfare & returned to his home there to meet again his friends & associates & enjoy their society in peace under a reunited government.

     This perhaps is if we move the last letter I shall write to you for some time & may be the last one I shall ever write to you. Dear Mother do not feel sad because I speak thus for your boy is under the protection & guidance of Him who rules the universe. In Him is my trust. His will and mine be done. I go forth ready to receive whatever fate is in store for me.

     Should this be the last time given me to address you I would for your comfort have you know that although I am a wild and sinful boy yet have I remembered my God & through His power & agency have I learned to look for protection amid the trying scenes of life. Through His power alone can I be spared to return to you. Therefore let us trust it all to Him & all will be well in life or in death.

     Write as often as you can. Your letters may not reach us immediately. But it will come round after awhile. Give my love to father & tell him that I would like a taste of his sugar sap & that maybe I will be home next fall before it is all gone…I will close by bidding you goodnight. With much love

 I am ever affectionately your son      

­­                                                                                           H. G. Hill­

At the bottom of this page Horace’s father Ira Hill had written:

This is the last letter written by Lieut. Horace G. Hill to his mother.

                                                                                     Ira A Hill

Hill was killed 13 days later, May 5, 1864, at the Wilderness

The T.R.R. Cobb House in Athens, Ga., is reprising debate over who killed general at Fredericksburg. Clues and claims are featured each Wednesday on social media

Cobb's and Kershaw's troops in Fredericksburg at the stone wall (Library of Congress)

Tune in this week tor another episode of “Who Killed Tom Cobb?”!!!

Tom Cobb, for the unfamiliar, was Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb, an ardent Georgia secessionist and Confederate brigadier general killed at Fredericksburg.

On Dec. 13, 1862, Cobb bled out after he was wounded while leading his men along Sunken Road. Of some debate in subsequent years was the manner of death.

Most historians – including staffers at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park in Virginia -- attribute the ghastly leg wound to shrapnel from a Federal artillery shell. Brig. Gen. Joseph Kershaw and Col. E.P. Alexander, however, reported that Cobb (right) was felled by a sharpshooter. There’s at least one other story, though it was largely debunked by veterans and historians

Six years after the T.R.R. Cobb House in Athens, Ga., asked middle schoolers to weigh in, the topic is being reprised through a weekly video series (on Wednesdays) featuring former Cobb House interns laying out evidence and accounts.

Curator Ashleigh Oatts said the series has been in the works for more than a year. The impetus is to boost the house's social media presence, and videos are the best way to do that.

“We were hearing from some visitors that they had heard that Tom Cobb died in X way (usually not the correct answer) and realized that the general public might appreciate hearing from the primary sources and becoming detectives through this video series,” she said.

The general -- a lawyer, slavery defender and architect of the Confederate constitution before he joined the cause's army -- was mortally wounded within sight of where his mother was born in Fredericksburg.

The death theories first were the subject of a summer 2017 article in the magazine of the Watson-Brown Foundation, which operates the T.R.R. Cobb House in Athens, Ga.

Sam Thomas, who was the curator then, decided to throw the whodunit to a group that would have no bias or prejudice – a class of eighth-graders. About half of them believed Cobb was killed by a sharpshooter, while others thought his death was result of friendly (or unfriendly) fire. You can read details of that claim here.

Cobb’s brigade was at the center of the maelstrom at Fredericksburg – the Sunken Road, which was bordered by a stone wall and just below Marye’s Heights.

“His men successfully repulsed repeated Union assaults on their position throughout the day on December 13, the park says on its website. “Between the first and second major wave of attacks against the Confederate position, Cobb was hit with shrapnel and mortally wounded. He had been standing behind the Stephens House when an artillery shell exploded through the house.” The officer was 39.

The video series is running every Wednesday through Dec. 17, though there may not be one shown Thanksgiving week, said Oatts. Three have been rolled out as of this writing.

Peter Maugle, park historian and ranger at Fredericksburg, will present a “solution” talk on Dec. 10, and the museum will wrap up the series the following Wednesday.

“The solution isn't a specific person, rather narrowing it down to the battery that was responsible (but also correcting misinformation stating that he was killed by friendly fire.),” said Oatts.

Cobb Legion's flag at the Athens house is on loan from the Atlanta History Center (Picket photo)

Among the weekly subjects:

-- H.M. Reed, son of a 13^th Mississippi Infantry veteran, told author Margaret Mitchell in 1937 about his father: “He dropped down beside the general and shoved his thumb into the wound and pressed the ends of the artery together and stopped the bleeding…When they arrived at the hospital they had to lift the general and my father out together as he could not release the pressure on the artery for a second. They laid both of them down on a bed together and the general expired before he could remove his thumb from the wound. My dad said his thumb was numb for a week afterwards."’

-- A Confederate’s interview with the Marietta (Ga.) Journal in which he claims Cobb was killed by a Rebel soldier in retribution for an incident that occurred weeks before the battle.

-- The account of Edward Porter Alexander, who apparently heard second-hand an account claiming it was a sharpshooter. "The fatal shot came from a house some hundred and fifty yards in front and to the left, which was occupied by the Federal skirmishes.”

-- The Rev. Rufus Kilpatrick Porter, chaplain for Cobb’s Legion;

-- Capt. W.R. Montgomery (left) of Cobb's Legion: “The whole time of the engagement our brave and gallant General Cobb was encouraging his men until a shot from the enemy’s cannon gave him his mortal wound. He was on the right of our Co, only a few feet from me when wounded.”

-- A letter from Joseph Henry Lumpkin, Cobb’s father-in-law, to Lumpkin’s daughter “Callie” Lumpkin King. While he was not present at Fredericksburg, he writes with some knowledge of the condition of the body. Lumpkin described the shell exploding outside the Stephens House, the fragment hitting his son-in-law above the knee, the removal of the general from the field, the cause of death and the funeral in Athens, Ga.

A postscript from my 2019 article on the topic: The T.R.R. Cobb House displays the Cobb’s Legion flag used at the battle in Virginia. The flag reportedly covered his legs after his body was sent to Athens days later and he lie in repose in his library. Cobb, his brother Howell and their families are buried a few miles away in Oconee Hill Cemetery.

'I'm very proud of my brother': Michigan siblings travel to Fredericksburg National Cemetery, where one joins others telling the stories of men who gave their all

Mark Fischer speaks at the grave of Sgt. Wallace Wight of the 24th Michigan (Photos courtesy Glenn Fischer)

Two brothers from Michigan are back from a super fun (and meaningful) road trip to Virginia.

Mark and Glenn Fischer traveled to Fredericksburg over the Memorial Day weekend. They took in the Civil War battlefield, the local library and the food and beverage scene, among other spots.

The main attraction, though, was the annual Memorial Day luminaria Saturday night at Fredericksburg National Cemetery. There, on a perfect weather evening, Mark stood next to the grave of Sgt. Wallace W. Wight of the 24^th Michigan, telling visitors about the infantryman's service and death in December 1862.

Last year, Fischer, 53, helped a researcher with the National Park Service identify the grave of Wight and another Iron Brigade soldier, from Indiana.

Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park invited the Livonia resident to join several others stationed in the burial ground to tell individual stories of those who died in service of their country.

“I had some folks ask me where the first burial site was, how much time passed between Wallace’s death and his father returning to the scene to reunite the remains,” said Mark Fischer, who conceded he could not provide firm answers to all questions..

Glenn Fischer, (left) director of the DeWitt District Library in DeWitt, was there to support his older brother over the weekend.

“While a somber and serious occasion, it was so moving to see how the public reacted to this event so positively,” Glenn told the Picket Tuesday upon their return to Michigan.

“I'm very proud of my brother for his dedication to this soldier's story. He's always been a very curious and persistent person when it comes to solving puzzles, so it was enlightening and satisfying to see him address this one successfully,” said Glenn.

Mark Fischer had wanted to know whether Wight was buried in Virginia or in Livonia, setting of a chain of research and correspondence with the park.

The citizen historian (right) worked with Steve Morin, a retired FBI researcher who volunteers at the park, to find information that led to grave identifications for Wight and Pvt. John S. Waller of the 19^th Indiana. 

Correspondence led to Morin eventually finding a Detroit Free Press article that detailed how and where the two men died. Wight, 18, and several comrades were killed on Dec. 13, 1862, and buried at Pollock’s Farm in Stafford County.

He was later moved to Fredericksburg National Cemetery. Waller was killed by rifle fire in April 1863 while attempting to cross the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg.

Wight’s grave at Fredericksburg National Cemetery has the wrong surname (Wright), which complicated the research. (At right, Mark Fischer)

Cemetery records have been updated to reflect the correct ID for Wight and to add Waller’s name, which was just marked “J.S.W.” on his headstone.

Because of their historic nature, the headstones will not be changed, park officials said last year.

Glenn Fischer said Saturday's event was well-organized and attended. "The event served as an important reminder of the importance of funding our National Park Service so that public events like this one can continue." 

He said the research is an example of why funding public libraries is "vital to preserving and providing access to these items and records. Without these resources, this young soldier's final resting place might remain a mystery."

Steve Morin talks about Pennsylvanian Alvin Whitaker (NPS photo)

Morin, the volunteer at Fredericksburg, was posted Saturday evening at the grave of Sgt. Alvin Whitaker of the 141st Pennsylvania, whose grave he helped properly identify.

Whitaker was killed in action in May 1864 and was buried on the field in Spotsylvania, Va. His grave at Fredericksburg National Cemetery was marked "O. Whittaker" with the 4th Ohio, but that name does not match records of soldiers killed on that date. Morin determined Alvin is likely buried in the grave.

"I think there were more visitors than last year. I was still talking to folks at 11 p.m.,” Morin said of the luminaria.

Mark Fischer told the Picket he would recommend everyone attend a luminaria service at national cemeteries.

"I can’t imagine a better way to honor all those who sacrificed so that we can live free today."

Mark Fischer educates visitors about Sgt. Wight during the cemetery event (NPS photo)

A persistent Michigander helped identify the graves of two soldiers buried at Fredericksburg. He will be at one's gravesite Saturday for Memorial Day luminaria

The Fredericksburg luminaria will remember 15,000 souls including Sgt. Wight (NPS photos)

A citizen historian from Michigan whose research helped lead to the identification of graves for two Iron Brigade soldiers buried at Fredericksburg National Cemetery will stand next to one’s headstone Saturday night during a Memorial Day luminaria.

Mark Fischer of Livonia will share the story of Sgt. Wallace Winfield Wight and his regiment, the 24^th Michigan Infantry to visitors walking through the cemetery, which will be aglow from thousands of candles placed in white bags.

Fischer worked with Steve Morin, a retired FBI researcher who volunteers at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park in Virginia, to find information that led to grave identifications for Wight and Pvt. John S. Waller of the 19^th Indiana.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be invited; I also see it as a good citizen’s duty,” Fischer (left) wrote in an email, “and a way to thank all fallen soldiers for their service and sacrifice.”

Wight’s grave at Fredericksburg National Cemetery has the wrong surname (Wright) and Waller’s has only initials.

An email from Fischer to the park in 2023 began the saga.

Fischer’s research actually began with Wight’s father, an officer in the same regiment and who is buried in Livonia. A nearby stone with Wallace Wight’s named appeared to be a cenotaph -- an empty grave for someone who is believed to rest elsewhere. But that was not a certainty.

Fischer reached out the park, wanting to know whether the younger Wight rests there. 

That first contact did not prove fruitful because park officials could not find a Wight in their cemetery records (though the register did show a Wright, as later research came to show). So Fischer kept at it, looking at diaries, letters and old newspapers.

How persistence of 2 men cracked the code

Subsequent correspondence between Fischer and Morin led to the latter eventually finding a Detroit Free Press article, which broke the whole story open last year.

The lengthy piece (right) in December 1870 about a Grand Army of the Republic reunion included information about the deaths of Wight, Waller and other men in 1862 and 1863.

Interestingly, the mislabeled Wight marker includes a “Jr.”, likely because the teen and his father, Lt. Col. William Walker Wight, had the same initials.

After the Wight identification, Morin was able to do the same for Waller, whose grave is marked simply “J.S.W.”

The headstones have not been corrected, due to their historical nature and other factors, but the cemetery’s records were updated.

Park historian and ranger Peter Maugle credited Fischer for instigating the gathering “of the pieces of the puzzle.”

“This guy figured it out for us. He was persistent.”

Wight, 18, and several comrades were killed on Dec. 13, 1862, and buried at Pollock’s Farm in Stafford County, as the newspaper article detailed. He was later moved to Fredericksburg National Cemetery.

Waller was killed by rifle fire in April 1863 while attempting to cross the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg.

The park decided to invite Fischer to this year's events as a sign of gratitude for his efforts.

Morin (left) on Saturday evening will be at the grave of a Pennsylvania soldier to discuss his service. A half dozen or so other people will be placed at additional grave sites of note.

Over the years, Maugle and his team have been able to “better” identify about 200 graves at Fredericksburg. About 85 percent of the graves at the cemetery are listed as unknown.

“Identification of soldiers is an ongoing project. It is very time intensive,” Morin (right) told the Picket. “It is great that records are continually being digitized by various organizations which really helps with the research work.” 

He called Fischer’s efforts to determine the location of Wight’s grave “relentless.”

Fischer said he would like to meet Maugle and Morin before the luminaria and thank them for their help. He hopes to visit the battlefield and see what the park archives have on the 24^th Michigan.

The citizen historian is transcribing the diaries of Webster Wood, a musician in Wight’s company, for a descendant. Wood also was from Livonia.

Monday's events include ceremony, walking tours

The luminaria is scheduled for 8 p.m.-11 p.m. Saturday. In the event of rain, the event will be moved to Sunday.

“The luminaria honors those who died in the service of this country,” the park said in a news release. “Local scouts will light 15,300 candles in the cemetery – one for each person buried there. In addition, a bugler will play “Taps” every 30 minutes during the evening as park staff posted throughout the cemetery relate stories about some of the individuals.”

The cemetery is located at the intersection of Sunken Road and Lafayette Boulevard. Click here for more information on transportation and parking.

A Memorial Day ceremony and observance is planned for Monday. (At right, grave of Pvt. Waller, NPS)

The event will begin at 10 a.m. with a 15-minute ceremony in the cemetery, including the  playing of Taps and the presentation of the colors of the 23rd USCT living history group.

From 10:15 am to 4 p.m., park staff will be stationed in the cemetery to share stories about the history of Memorial Day in Fredericksburg and “facilitate remembrance activities to honor those who lost their lives in service to the United States.” Golf carts will be available to facilitate access up to the cemetery.

Join staff at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. for walking tours of the Sunken Road. The tours will meet behind the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center, 1013 Lafayette Blvd, by the panoramic battle painting.  

The partial remains of three Union soldiers have been buried at Fredericksburg National Cemetery. Inside their tiny casket is a trove of military buttons, a coat remnant and other items that got mixed up with their bones

May 2 burial (City of Fredericksburg), examination of burial bundle and Connecticut button (Dovetail/Mead & Hunt)

Following the Civil War, the United States government undertook an exhaustive effort to ensure a proper resting place for Union soldiers who had given the “last full measure of devotion.”

Work parties scoured battlefields, back yards, pastures and countless other places to collect 300,000 bodies that were interred at 73 national cemeteries. Remains arrived in dribs and drabs at Fredericksburg National Cemetery in Virginia between 1866 and 1868. Most came with no name: Of the 15,243 soldiers, about 85 percent are unknown.

Contractors hired by the government often retrieved skulls and larger portions of the skeleton, leaving most behind. Such was the case with three Federal soldiers buried together at a site near Sophia Street in downtown Fredericksburg. They died at a hospital set up during the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862.

Fredericksburg Superintendent Lewis Rogers at cemetery burial (City of Fredericksburg)

Ten years after the discovery of the partial remains, the men were rendered full honors on May 2 when a small casket holding leg, toe, finger and other bones was buried at the national cemetery.

Among those on hand were Mayor Kerry Devine, members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and Lewis Rogers, superintendent of Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. Assisting the reburial effort was the Missing in America Project.

“The placement of these remains closes an important and long journey for these men. They left home at a young age to fight for a cause they believed in, only to lose their lives hundreds of miles from home,” said Kerri Barile Tambs, senior practice lead at Dovetail Cultural Resource Group, which was hired by the city to conduct archaeological examinations during the Riverfront Park project and studied the bones.

There’s another fascinating aspect of the story: Barile Tambs (left) and other Dovetail staffers analyzed a “bundle” found with the men's remaining bones. The jumble of items included fabric from a uniform, military buttons, a pack of straight pins and a small bottle. They were likely kept in pants pockets.

Among the uniform buttons was one denoting Connecticut.

“The three individuals were buried as they died -- wearing their uniforms. By the time people came back … to remove parts of the burials, partial decomposition had occurred,” said Barile Tambs.

“These workers removed some of the bones but left others jumbled together. In the process, it appears that the coat of one of the soldiers was dislodged from the bones, ‘balled up,’ and put back in the hole with the bones they left behind.”

14th Connecticut, other units used house as hospital

A November 2015 article by The Free Lance-Star newspaper detailed the find near the Rowe-Goolrick house, which was constructed in the 1750s to face onto one of Fredericksburg's original ferry roads (and thus was perpendicular to Sophia Street).

The discovery was made after a Masonic hall next to the Rowe-Goolrick house site was torn down to make room for Riverfront Park and city officials called Dovetail in to study the site.

Bright green area is where the human remains were found in 2015 (NPS image)

Dovetail performed archaeological work and archival studies in the area four times between 2013 and 2019. The team located thousands of artifacts spanning from the precontact period through the 1970s.

A 2019 blog post on the Dovetail website details the discovery of several building foundations during the effort.

The Rowe-Goolrick house  was demolished in 1973 to make room for a parking lot that is now part of the park along the Rappahannock River. A fascinating 1863 photograph of the city shows the Rowe-Goolrick house. It was then the home of Absalom Rowe, a cattleman and future mayor of the town. Near it was the Eliza Eubank home, also shown in the picture. It still survives and may be the oldest building in Fredericksburg (circa 1746).

Wartime image of the town, shows Rowe-Goolrick home at right foreground, 
facing the Eliza Eubank home at left (Library of Congress)

A recent National Park Service page about the discovery of the burial site in town said the 14^th Connecticut Infantry used the Rowe-Goolrick house, outbuildings and grounds as a hospital.

Second Lt. Charles Lyman of the regiment wrote about witnessing a leg amputation on a soldier placed on a “rude operating table under a big buttonball tree in the yard.”

The NPS said the remains of the three soldiers showed no evidence of amputations.

Archaeologists determined the remains belonged to U.S. soldiers by using radiocarbon dating and the context in which they were found and associated artifacts, including uniform buttons, according to the city.

More about 113 items found in the 'bundle'

Barile Tambs told the Picket in an email the bundle was about 2-3 feet below the surface in what appeared to be a root cellar.

The NPS page provides these details about what her team found:

Straight pins were found among the jumble of material (Dovetail/Mead & Hunt)

“The X-ray revealed a total of 113 artifacts in the small bundle. These materials included eagle buttons, a small patent medicine bottle, straight pins, a pocket watch key, a small horsehair brush, and a cuff-size Connecticut button. The identification of the Connecticut button was especially significant because the 14th Connecticut was the only Connecticut unit in the 3rd Division at the Battle of Fredericksburg, providing additional information as to the potential troops who occupied the site.”

Dovetail – now a part of Mead & Hunt -- does not know anything about the straight pins. The bottle (right, photo Dovetail/Mead & Hunt) is believed to have contained a patent medicine most likely used to treat syphilis. The piece of cloth measured maybe 8 inches by 5 inches.

The archaeologist said the disturbance of the first grave near the Rowe-Goolrick house made it difficult to understand how the men were buried.

“The parts that were left behind were dislodged and jumbled thus no longer representing a standard skeletal position,” Barile Tambs said. “As such, we can't say much on the exact original configuration of the burials at the time of death -- we only have evidence that was left behind … during the partial removal process.”

Full honors for soldiers 160 years later

Fredericksburg National Cemetery sits on Marye’s Heights, a strategic area located southwest of the town’s historic downtown. During the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate troops held the high terrain and successfully repelled numerous Union attacks.

Before this month, the last burial of a soldier or veteran there was in 1945. Subsequent burials were spouses. The cemetery has been officially closed to interments since 2010.

Eagle buttons found amid bones, other artifacts in city of Fredericksburg (Dovetail/Mead & Hunt)

The city asked the NPS to bury the remains in 2017, with the need to find a location at the cemetery that had no evidence of a previous interment. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources also was consulted.

The Covid pandemic slowed the project. A 2021 effort to find a suitable plot came to a stop when archaeologists found a long-covered road and brick-lined culvert. A new location was found two years later.

“This 10-year process established protocols should other Civil War remains be found in the area to expedite the respectful reburial of these brave individuals,” Barile Tambs told the Picket. 

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and dignitaries at service (City of Fredericksburg)

The May 2 ceremony included a dozen members of the SUVCW, including a color guard.

According to the city, the National Cemetery Administration has provided the headstone, which will match others in the cemetery and include the epitaph “Unknown.” Given the soldiers are unknown, officials do not where the first part of their remains were interred in the 1860s.

I asked Barile Tambs what became of the bundle.

“It has all been reburied with the remains. They are all grave goods,” she wrote.