More Than Just A Stone

In April 1865, the guns fell silent and the War of the Rebellion came to a close, but the pain and suffering did not end, especially for families of loved ones who had perished. Local citizens made every attempt to identify the hundreds of bodies removed from local farms and alongside roadways, though a scrap of paper or initials on clothing gave only scant clues. All information was carefully recorded for this final resting place for the unknown and gave hope to families and descendants that their memory was not forgotten. Time has provided clues to whom some of them may be, as in the case of the young Albert Peel, whose body was buried beside his colonel, T. J. Hardin, who was also killed in battle. A letter from Albert Peel's brother recalled that two or three years after the close of the war, women of Spotsylvania wrote that the graves of Colonel Hardin and Adjutant Peel had been found and the remains removed to the Confederate Cemetery. Colonel Hardin's grave is clearly marked, but Albert Peel has no marked stone, and there are others as well whose bodies were never identified, leaving likenesses made for their families as their only solace.

Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia · United States