Appomattox Confederate Cemetery

[HistorywithWaffles]

Does anyone have any stories about the small cemetery for confederates at Appomattox? Here is a short clip of the place, I'd like to cover more of it.

 

[RedRover]

Sgt. Ashby of the 12th Virginia Cavalry was one of these final fatalities buried there.

A federal shell struck into the ranks of the 12th, mortally wounding Sgt. John W. Ashby, the first sergeant of Company I. [Times Dispatch, Richmond, VA, 7-29-1906.] John H. Carlisle of White's battalion saw the shell strike but found it hard to believe it caused Ashby's death:

"A shell passed through the ranks of my company, about shoulder high. Fifty yards to our rear was the Twelfth Virginia cavalry of Rosser's brigade. The men were standing to horse, ready to mount. This shell struck an outside horse in the flank and went straight through him, cutting him literally in two. An hour afterward, I was told the soldier that stood beside him was dead. I do not think, though, that the shell killed the man, for I saw the horse struck and saw the soldier fall. But I do not think the shock was severe enough to have killed him, for he made too much noise in falling for a man seriously hurt. I am inclined to think that this death, which occurred a short time after that, was from some other cause." [Hopkinsville Kentuckian, Hopkinsville, KY, 6-21-1895.]

However others say that he was in fact mortally wounded. Another account, suggesting there was, however, no wound entry...

[Richmond Times-Dispatch, 8-5-1906.]


His compatriot Bushrod Rust of Company I next recalled...

The balance of his brigade rode out of the bag to Lynchburg, but the mortally wounded Ashby was left behind.

Memorial, Virginia Military Institute

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A History of the Laurel Brigade

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