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| The entrance to Rose Hill Cemetery in downtown York, SC. |
Located in the Southeastern corner of Rose Hill Cemetery in downtown York, South Carolina, are eight graves that seem to be noticeably set apart from the others beneath a tall tree. Its as if the occupants of those graves were buried away from the rest due to some religious objection, or were the victims of some vile and incurable 19th century disease.
These eight lonely graves belong to Union soldiers. Members of two units of US troops who occupied York County and the surrounding area during the Reconstruction Era (1865 - 1877) who died during that time due to illness, or possibly violence from local resistance to federal enforcement of Radical Reconstruction policies that barred ex-Confederates from voting, holding office, or meeting in groups -- including funerals and church services -- without federal soldiers present.
Some of these men, members of Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer's 7th US Cavalry under the command of Major Lewis Merrill, were present in York County in 1871 during the height of violent activities involving the first Ku Klux Klan. Their efforts led largely to the suppression of violence against former slaves and those who worked to ensure their equal treatment under the law.
Some of these men, members of Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer's 7th US Cavalry under the command of Major Lewis Merrill, were present in York County in 1871 during the height of violent activities involving the first Ku Klux Klan. Their efforts led largely to the suppression of violence against former slaves and those who worked to ensure their equal treatment under the law.
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| Eight Union soldiers, members of the local occupation forces who died during the Reconstruction Era. |
No matter their reason for being in York County at that particular time, these eight men sadly died in another State far from their homes and families who never saw them again. No matter if they are a Confederate soldier from Georgia buried in Pennsylvania, or a young Union man from Maine who died of pneumonia in South Carolina. They deserve to be remembered and respected for their individual lives as any other American veteran of the War Between the States (1861 - 1865) who fell far from home.
For that reason this blogger honors them by placing the flags they served under at their graves and present to you readers the names of these Union soldiers.
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| Private Thos Quinton Co. C 18th US Infantry |
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| Private G.H. Whitemore Co. L 7th US Cavalry |
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| Private Samuel Brown Co. L 7th US Cavalry |
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| Private Patrick Walsh Co. C 18th US Infantry |
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| Private Adolphus Cash Co. D 7th US Cavalry |
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| Private G.W. Windsor Co. C 18th US Infantry |
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| Private Jno Shea Co. C 18th US Infantry |
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| Sergeant Patrick Garr Co. C 18th US Infantry |
- We've been fighting today on the old camp ground,
- Many are lying near;
- Some are dead, and some are dying,
- Many are in tears.
- Many are the hearts that are weary tonight,
- Wishing for the war to cease;
- Many are the hearts look for the right,
- To see the dawn of peace.
- A popular Union Civil War song.
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As always I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Have a wonderful Dixie day, and y'all come back now, ya hear?
2 comments:
I lived in York when I was junior high age in the late 80’s, and I would walk and bicycle around Rose Hill. I ran across these graves; they were overgrown with weeds then, and I cleaned them up and made paper & pencil rubbings of the headstones. An older lady from a local family said there was a story about the soldiers having been poisoned by a resentful Confederate cook. Never knew if there was any truth to it, but York was full of fascinating history.
Greetings.
The story I heard about these men was that a couple of them were actually killed when they fell off the second story balcony of the building the Union occupiers were using as their HQ in York. This is also (according to stories) possibly done by locals who removed nails and made the railing unsafe. The rest likely died as a result of disease, or pneumonia. The poisoning thing I never heard of, but it wouldn't come as a shock if at least one of those guys was poisoned by someone. There's lots of fascinating -- and shocking -- history in York and Chester Counties.
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