Antietam's Lone Grave Under A Tree, An Immigrant's Final Peace?

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
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One of the war's most stark, iconic images- Antietam's lone tree, a grave and soldiers who lived through the bloodbath called Antietam.

Apologies if this has already been done- you know what it's like. " HOLY heck, FOUND it! " We geeks can get carried away. I'm not claiming to have found anything anyway. It's a maybe.

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Image of a tree outlined against the sky, several soldiers and a grave has always, always gotten to me. Stark war. You know how you can play with those enormous TIF's with which LoC gifts us? Those men- their faces hold the same, beyond shock or despair disturbingly tragic expressions we see in other photos.

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It's that grave. Chills and sometimes tears of you allow your head enough license. And we can see this man's name. Look, I'm not saying this IS he- but the name messmates must have carved onto wood after burying a friend may be " John Marshall ". Yes, scoffers welcome, I'm just pretty convinced. Been squinting at tombstones inside TIFs for awhile.

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An Irish immigrant, John Marshall was a carpenter living the Miller family in Pittsburgh, PA in 1862. Civil War index card lists a John Marshall, 147th PVI from Pittsburgh, PA was killed in action at Antietam. Yes, certainly, may have been other men named John Marshall killed in that shambles. It's just awfully interesting.

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Maybe we'll never know. Maybe this is immigrant John Marshall of Ireland's story that ended on a battlefield near Antietam Creek, Maryland. Rest well, John.
 
Here's the John Marshall in the Antietam grave photo and other info:


John Marshall
(1812 - 1862)
Home State: Pennsylvania
Branch of Service: Infantry
Unit: 28th Pennsylvania Infantry
Before Antietam----A stonemason from Allegheny City, he enlisted 27 July 1861 as Private in Company L of the 28th Pennsylvania Infantry.

On the Campaign---At age 50 he was killed in action at Antietam on 17 September 1862.

The rest of the War---He was buried on the battlefield and later reinterred in the National Cemetery. It is his gravesite seen under a dead tree in the famous Alexander Gardner photograph taken 2 or 3 days after the battle.

References & notes---Basic information from the Antietam Cemetery History, with photo interpretation and additional research by Bill Frassanito.

Birth---1812 in IRELAND

Death---09/17/1862 Sharpsburg, MD; burial in Antietam National Cemetery, Sharpsburg, MD


 
Find-a-Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7065619/john-marshall


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Born in Dublin Ireland in 1812 John Marshall immigrated to the USA and took up residence in Allegheny City, Pa. He was a stonemason by trade and lived with his family at 60 Lacock St. His first wife died of consumption in 1855. They had one child, a son William. John remarried to a woman named Mary who was 18 years younger than he was and had two additional children, a son Samuel in 1859 and a son John in 1861.

On July 27,1861 John Marshall enlisted in Co. L of the Twenty-eighth PA. Pvt. Marshall, age 50, was killed in action on September 17th 1862 at the battle of Antietam near or in the Miller Cornfield and was buried in the field at the location of his death. He later was was reinterred in the Antietam National Cemetery. He lies in grave 19 lot A section 26.
 
Find-a-Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7065619/john-marshall


View attachment 343643

Born in Dublin Ireland in 1812 John Marshall immigrated to the USA and took up residence in Allegheny City, Pa. He was a stonemason by trade and lived with his family at 60 Lacock St. His first wife died of consumption in 1855. They had one child, a son William. John remarried to a woman named Mary who was 18 years younger than he was and had two additional children, a son Samuel in 1859 and a son John in 1861.

On July 27,1861 John Marshall enlisted in Co. L of the Twenty-eighth PA. Pvt. Marshall, age 50, was killed in action on September 17th 1862 at the battle of Antietam near or in the Miller Cornfield and was buried in the field at the location of his death. He later was was reinterred in the Antietam National Cemetery. He lies in grave 19 lot A section 26.

HOLY heck, thank you! So thankfully the work's been done- this all gives you chills. Ok, so he must have fudged his age just to be able to serve. Makes you think! 50, and he left everything he'd worked for and went to war. John must have taken the chance to get out of an awful situation in Ireland, faced the very real anti-Irish prejudice here, worked his way into a settled, good life and been willing to fight for the country who'd taken him in. Really appreciate the information, thanks again!
 
In a similar vein:

john Graham grave Chicamauga.jpeg


The only known grave site at Chickamauga belongs to John Ingraham. As was traditional, after the battle the Confederate dead had been interred in trench burials. In a gross violation of custom, the Union dead had been left where they lay. At a later time, the bodies were removed to other cemeteries. Ingraham was a local man & his neighbors felt it was best if he was left where he fell. I always make a point of stopping by when I am at Chickamauga. There is something very poignant about that individual grave that the thousands of headstones in National Cemeteries don't have. His family, friends & neighbors probably gathered at his gravesite & sang him on his way. Standing there amid the sounds of the surrounding woodland, I always feel something profound that I can't quite explain.
 
View attachment 343616
One of the war's most stark, iconic images- Antietam's lone tree, a grave and soldiers who lived through the bloodbath called Antietam.

Apologies if this has already been done- you know what it's like. " HOLY heck, FOUND it! " We geeks can get carried away. I'm not claiming to have found anything anyway. It's a maybe.

View attachment 343613

Image of a tree outlined against the sky, several soldiers and a grave has always, always gotten to me. Stark war. You know how you can play with those enormous TIF's with which LoC gifts us? Those men- their faces hold the same, beyond shock or despair disturbingly tragic expressions we see in other photos.

View attachment 343617

It's that grave. Chills and sometimes tears of you allow your head enough license. And we can see this man's name. Look, I'm not saying this IS he- but the name messmates must have carved onto wood after burying a friend may be " John Marshall ". Yes, scoffers welcome, I'm just pretty convinced. Been squinting at tombstones inside TIFs for awhile.

View attachment 343615

An Irish immigrant, John Marshall was a carpenter living the Miller family in Pittsburgh, PA in 1862. Civil War index card lists a John Marshall, 147th PVI from Pittsburgh, PA was killed in action at Antietam. Yes, certainly, may have been other men named John Marshall killed in that shambles. It's just awfully interesting.

View attachment 343614

Maybe we'll never know. Maybe this is immigrant John Marshall of Ireland's story that ended on a battlefield near Antietam Creek, Maryland. Rest well, John.
Love your story telling even if it includes a ton of hieroglyphics I don’t understand :smile:
 
HOLY heck, thank you! So thankfully the work's been done- this all gives you chills. Ok, so he must have fudged his age just to be able to serve. Makes you think! 50, and he left everything he'd worked for and went to war. John must have taken the chance to get out of an awful situation in Ireland, faced the very real anti-Irish prejudice here, worked his way into a settled, good life and been willing to fight for the country who'd taken him in. Really appreciate the information, thanks again!
Perhaps, but no real reason to do so - unlike soldier children, there was no upper age limit for service. As long as he was physically able to serve he would've been welcome. I know what you mean, though - I had a G-G-G-G-grandfather who was apparently serving as a sergeant in a South Carolina Continental regiment at the battle of Savannah in 1779 also at age fifty!
 
I had a G-G-G-G-grandfather who was apparently serving as a sergeant in a South Carolina Continental regiment at the battle of Savannah in 1779 also at age fifty!

I know there have been discussions about how very young some soldiers could be, sometimes so young it's hard to hear they marched off to war. I don't know- the 40 and 50 year olds who did it always seems more astonishing. I mean, whoa? That's my thing about Lee actually. It took an awful lot of delberation to get on a horse and go to war, marches, extreme weather, tents, terrible food, brutal conditions at WHAT age? 150 years ago 50 and 60 were wayyyy past life's heavy lifting and they did anyway.
 
Iowa farmer George Kincaid had a brainstorm early in 1862. He organized a regiment composed of men 45 or older. The 37th Iowa became known as the 'Iowa Greybeards' or the 'Silver Greys'. Nearly 600 of the 914 men mustered into the 37th were 60 or older. Curtis King, age 80 was considered hale & hearty enough to serve because he had five children under 16 years of age.

Confederate prisoners the 37th guarded in Saint Louis described them as, "old gentlemen-kind & fatherly."

Surgeon August Clark, on the other hand, said that the Greybeards had no notion of the value of discipline, "a regiment of decrepit old men & the most unpromising subjects for soldiers I ever saw."

While riding atop a Memphis & Charleston RR train passing from Memphis & La Grange, Tennessee, Greybeard guards exchanged fire with attacking banditti. Four of the "old gentlemen" were wounded & two were killed. It was their only fire fight. The men of the 37th served until mustered out May 1865.
 
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