Burials During Appomattox Campaign

[General Casey]

Hi everyone,

Happy New Year to you all! I've been tasked to read over a film script by the writer that has an opening scene set during Lee's surrender. The writer has a scene describing a character burying Confederate soldiers who had been killed somewhere along the retreat route.

I was hoping someone from here would be able to let me know if this was possible or even realistic. I went through some stuff last night but couldn't find anything. I would assume that burials took a low priority and would probably be handled by captured Confederates. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[rbasin]

Not for nothing, but general Casey signed my GG grandfather's courts martial papers in 1841

 

[dburrell]

It is possible, as there are at least nine marked Confederate graves at Appomattox... see photo below.

 

[Zack]

In Elizabeth Varon's book APPOMATTOX: VICTORY, DEFEAT, AND FREEDOM AT THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR I found this line (page 82):

[Union] Infantryman Henry Miner, for his part, wrote breathlessly to his parents in New York that the war hung in the balance during the retreat: "If Genl. Grant had been two hours later he would not have caught Lee." The rebels, in their headlong flight, left behind the debris of defeat - caissons, wagons, payrolls, ammunition, and bodies. They had had "no time to bury the dead" strewn along their line of march, so relentless was the Union pursuit.

 

[Zack]

Writing of the first day of the Battle of High Bridge on April 6, which was a Confederate victory, William Marvel recorded in LEE'S LAST RETREAT on page 77-78:

"Major James Tomson, of the horse artillery, was shot through the head in the final moments of the fight; he had not yet given up the ghost when Henry Lee found him with his horse standing faithfully over him. The spirit soon vanished from his eyes, though, and Captain Lee bundled the body of his friend across the pommel of his saddle, riding off to find a proper burial site.

The proper site seemed to be the front yard of the James Watson house. There a fatigue detail of Southern cavalry shoveled up enough earth to bury Lee's friend Thomson, Colonel Boston, and their erstwhile enemy General Read within a few yards of each other; some of the company officers and enlisted men went under the same sod with them."

Of Sailor's Creek he notes on Page 119 that Union soldiers "worked all night to bury [the Confederate dead]."

 

[Zack]

So based on this I would say in the one instance where the Confederates held the field at the end of the day they did bury their own dead but otherwise they were in too much of a hurry. Of course, any soldier in the chaotic retreat could reasonably duck out of the ranks and bury the dead and then never return to the army (I don't see how they could catch up). This also follows the general trend that the dead are either buried by the winning army or, if the winners depart quickly, civilians.

 

[General Casey]

So based on this I would say in the one instance where the Confederates held the field at the end of the day they did bury their own dead but otherwise they were in too much of a hurry. Of course, any soldier in the chaotic retreat could reasonably duck out of the ranks and bury the dead and then never return to the army (I don't see how they could catch up). This also follows the general trend that the dead are either buried by the winning army or, if the winners depart quickly, civilians.

Those were my thoughts exactly. I had assumed that either civilians buried any fallen or most likely the Union army probably some days after.

 

[Zack]

I don't know how much you can reveal, but how is it described in the script? I presumed the character was a Confederate but re-reading your post it doesn't actually indicate one way or the other.

 

[Lubliner]

I have heard plenty of reports when one of their own company was killed near friends, they would bury him at the first opportunity, or take the time to try and remove him from the field if he was still alive. So in such a mad dash and danger, it would have to be a very close friend to not leave him behind and accept capture.
Lubliner.