Before anyone in the family gets to excited, I didn’t find a long lost uncle in Tennessee. Well I did, but, let me explain…………..
Uncle Simeon, or maybe Simon, called just Si ( I think? And pronounced Cy) is my great uncle. He is buried in the National Cemetery in Chattanooga. We had the good fortune to visit there and see his burial site.
Uncle Si (he is referred to that way by his brother, Peter Robert, in a letter home) was killed in the Civil War battle for Chattanooga at Missionary Ridge. That was November 25th, 1863. His father Absalom, my 2nd Great Grandfather, and five of his brothers, including my Great Grandfather, Leonard, all joined the Union Army. Absalom was 60 years old at the time and had to die his hair and beard to get in. Absalom, Si, and Peter Robert were all in Company B, 15th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, in the Union Army of the Cumberland. Absalom had been killed the year before at the Battle of Stones River in Murfreesboro TN. Peter Robert served until the war ended. I mentioned in a previous entry that he may have been here at Cooper Furnace where we are working. I have visited Absalom’s burial site at the National Cemetery at Stones River Battlefield. Two other uncles were killed during the war. William was killed at Cumberland Gap TN, and Isaac in Vicksburg MS. We have yet to visit Vicksburg and the location of the gravesite of William has been lost?
Kat and I went to Chattanooga to see the battlefield and to visit the cemetery. We started at Lookout Mt., and then went to the cemetery and Chickamauga National Battlefield in Georgia. It’s right across the state line and where the battle for Chattanooga began. Si and Peter would have been there. As with all the Civil War sites I have visited, Lookout Mt. and Chickamauga are very well done. The National Park Service still gets this done right. They have some real dedicated folks doing this kind of thing. The same can be said for National Cemeteries. Simeon’s marker had obviously been replaced as had others. The whole visit was great. Pictures really don’t do it justice. For a little perspective on the Civil War the need for this cemetery was started by the Battle for Chattanooga in late 1863. It was dedicated Christmas Day 1863, and by 1865 12,000 Union soldiers had been buried there. 5000 of those are unknown. Confederate soldiers are buried at another location. As I have said before, When I walk these grounds “I feel like I am in very good company”.
Uncle Simeon, or maybe Simon, called just Si ( I think? And pronounced Cy) is my great uncle. He is buried in the National Cemetery in Chattanooga. We had the good fortune to visit there and see his burial site.
Uncle Si (he is referred to that way by his brother, Peter Robert, in a letter home) was killed in the Civil War battle for Chattanooga at Missionary Ridge. That was November 25th, 1863. His father Absalom, my 2nd Great Grandfather, and five of his brothers, including my Great Grandfather, Leonard, all joined the Union Army. Absalom was 60 years old at the time and had to die his hair and beard to get in. Absalom, Si, and Peter Robert were all in Company B, 15th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, in the Union Army of the Cumberland. Absalom had been killed the year before at the Battle of Stones River in Murfreesboro TN. Peter Robert served until the war ended. I mentioned in a previous entry that he may have been here at Cooper Furnace where we are working. I have visited Absalom’s burial site at the National Cemetery at Stones River Battlefield. Two other uncles were killed during the war. William was killed at Cumberland Gap TN, and Isaac in Vicksburg MS. We have yet to visit Vicksburg and the location of the gravesite of William has been lost?
Kat and I went to Chattanooga to see the battlefield and to visit the cemetery. We started at Lookout Mt., and then went to the cemetery and Chickamauga National Battlefield in Georgia. It’s right across the state line and where the battle for Chattanooga began. Si and Peter would have been there. As with all the Civil War sites I have visited, Lookout Mt. and Chickamauga are very well done. The National Park Service still gets this done right. They have some real dedicated folks doing this kind of thing. The same can be said for National Cemeteries. Simeon’s marker had obviously been replaced as had others. The whole visit was great. Pictures really don’t do it justice. For a little perspective on the Civil War the need for this cemetery was started by the Battle for Chattanooga in late 1863. It was dedicated Christmas Day 1863, and by 1865 12,000 Union soldiers had been buried there. 5000 of those are unknown. Confederate soldiers are buried at another location. As I have said before, When I walk these grounds “I feel like I am in very good company”.
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