USA > Pennsylvania > Adams County > Gettysburg > Soldiers' national cemetery, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania > Part 3
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After purchasing the grounds I made application to the Secretary of War for coffins, for the burial of these dead, and he at once ap- proved of the application, and directed the Quartermaster General to furnish the number required for the purpose.
These cemetery grounds were solemnly dedicated to their present sacred purpose by appropriate and imposing ceremonies, on Thurs- day, the 19th of November last. The public prints of that week con- tained full accounts of the proceedings. I refer you, also, to the accompanying proceedings, embraced in this volume.
I requested the Governors of the several States, having lots in the cemetery, to appoint Commissioners, to assemble at Harrisburg on the 17th of December last, to adopt some uniform plan for the action of
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the Legislature of the different States. Twelve States were repre- sented, and the other five signified in advance their assent to any reasonable action of the convention. I herewith refer you to the re- port of the proceedings of the convention.
The estimated expenses of finishing the cemetery are $63.500, and it is proposed to divide the same among the different States having lots in the cemetery, in the ratio of their representation in Congress.
The Legislatures of other States are acting in this matter, and making the appropriations in the proportion as above indicated. Be- sides making this appropriation, an additional duty devolves upon the Legislature of Pennsylvania. For the management and care of the grounds, and the completion of the work, it is necessary to have a corporate body ; and the State of Pennsylvania is requested, through her Legislature, to establish, by her letters patent, this corporation of the "Soldiers' National Cemetery." This should be done without delay. It will necessarily require some time for the Board of Mana- gers to meet and organize, and in the meantime the work, which should be progressing, is delayed. It is especially desirable that the Legislature act upon this matter at once, so that the organization may be perfected. Upon this Board of Managers, composed of one from each State that have soldiers dead here, will devolve the completion of the project, and the future care of the grounds.
* *
All of which is respectfully submitted.
(Signed,) DAVID WILLS,
Agent for A. G. Curtin, Governor of Pennsylvania.
GETTYSBURG, March 21, 1864.
REPORT OF SAMUEL WEAVER.
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GETTYSBURG, March 19, 1864. .
To David Wills, Esq.,
Agent for A. G. Curtin, Governor of Pennsylvania,
SIR :- I herewith submit the following brief report of the results of my labors as the superintendant of the exhuming of the bodies of the Union soldiers, that fell on the battle-field of Gettysburg :
The contractor commenced the work of exhuming on Tuesday, the 27th of October, last, and finished yesterday. The work has been pro- tracted much beyond our original anticipations, by reason of the ground
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being frozen for a long time during the winter, thus entirely suspend- ing the work, and also by the number of bodies exceeding our finst cal- culations. The number taken up and removed to the Soldiers' National Cemetery, is thirty-three hundred and fifty-four, (3,354,) and to those add the number of Massachusetts soldiers taken up by the authorities of the city of Boston, by special contract, amounting to one hundred and fifty-eight, (158,) makes the number of removals thirty-five hundred and twelve (3512) bodies. Of these, nine hundred and seventy-nine (979,) were bodies nameless, and without any marks or surroundings to designate the State from which they volunteered. The rest were, in most instances, marked with boards, on which the name, company and regiment, were written in pencil, or cut by their comrades who buried them.
In some instances the regiment to which the soldier belonged was discovered, and sometimes only the State from which they volunteered ; and in those cases they were buried in their appropriate State lot. There was not a grave permitted to be opened nor a body searched unless I was present. I was inflexible in enforcing this rule, and here can say with the greatest satisfaction to myself and to the friends of the soldiers, that I saw every body taken out of its tempo . rary resting place and all the pockets carefully searched ; and when the grave was not marked, I examined all the clothing and everything about the body, to find the name. I then saw the body, with all the hair, and all the particles of bone, carefully placed in the coffin, and if there was a head board, I required it at once to be nailed to the coffin. At the same time I wrote the name, company and regiment, of the soldier on the coffin, and numbered the coffin, and entered in my book the same endorsement. This book was returned to your office every evening, to copy and compare with the daily return made by the Superintendent of the interments in the cemetery. In these scrutinizing searches, the names of a number of lost soldiers were found. They were discovered in various ways. Sometimes by the pocket diaries, by letters, by names in Bible or Testament, by photo- graps, names in pocket-books, descriptive lists, express receipts, med- als, names on some part of the clothing, or on belt or cartridge-box, &c.
There were some articles of value found on the bodies; some money, watches, jewelry, &c. I took all relics, as well as all articles of value, from the bodies, packed them up and labeled them, so that the friends can get them. There are many things valueless to others, which would be of great interest to the friends. I herewith submit a st of persons and articles found upon them, and you will, no doubt,
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take means to get information to the friends, by advertisement or otherwise, so that they may give notice where, and to whom, these things shall be forwarded. I have two hundred and eighty-seven packages.
Before we commenced our work the battle-field had been overrun by thousands of sorrowing friends, in search of lost ones, and many of the graves had been opened, and but partially or carelessly closed. Many of the undertakers who were removing bodies, also performed their work in the most careless manner, invariably leaving the graves open, and often leaving particles of the bones and hair scattered around. These things are frequently to be seen on every part of the battle-field ; and persons going over it might attribute such work to the contractors, but there cannot be one instance pointed out of such kind of work done by them. Every particle of the body was gathered up by them, and the grave neatly closed over and levelled. The bodies were found in various stages of decomposition.
On the battle of the first day the rebels obtained possession before our men were buried, and left most of them unburied from Wednes- day until Monday following, when our men buried them. After this length of time they could not be identified, and consequently but few on the battle-field of July the 1st, were marked. They were generally covered with a small portion of earth, dug up from along-side of the body; this left them much exposed to the heat, air and rains, and they decomposed rapidly, so that when these bodies were taken up, there were nothing remaining but dry skeletons.
Where bodies were in heavy clay soil, or in marshy places, they were in a good state of preservation; where they were in sandy, porous soil, they were entirely decomposed. Frequently our men were buried in trenches-shallow ditches-in which they were laid side by side. In several instances the number in a trench amounted to sixty or seventy bodies.
In searching for the remains of our fallen heroes, we examined more than three thousand rebel graves. They were frequently buried in trenches, and there are instances of more than one hundred and fifty in a trench. In one place, it is asserted by a reliable farmer, who saw them buried, that there are over two hundred in one trench I have been making a careful estimate, from time to time, as I wen over the field, of the rebel bodies buried on this battle-field, and at the hospitals, and I place the number at not less than seven thousand bodies. It may be asked how we could distinguish the bodies of our men from those of the rebels. This was generally very easily don
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In the first place, as a general rule, the rebels never went into battle with the United States coat on. They sometimes stole the panta- loons from our dead, and wore them, but not the coat. The rebel clothing is made of cotton, and is of a grey or brown color. Occa- sionally I found one with a blue cotton-jear roundabout on. The clothing of our men is of wool, and blue; so that the body having the coat of our uniform on, was a pretty sure indication that he was a Union soldier. But if the body were without a coat, then there were other infallible marks. The shoes of the rebels were differently made from those of our soldiers. If these failed, then the under- clothing was the next part examined. The rebel cotton under-shirt. gave proof of the army to which he belonged. In no instance was the body allowed to be removed which had any portion of the rebel clothing on it. Taking all these things together, we never had much trouble in deciding, with infallible accuracy, whether the body was that of a Union soldier, or a rebel. And I here most conscientiously assert, that I firmly believe that there has not been a single mistake made in the removal of the soldiers to the Cemetery, by taking the body of a rebel for a Union soldier.
All of which is respectfully submitted,
(Signed) SAMUEL WEAVER.
NUMBER OF BURIALS,
In each State Lot in the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Penn- sylvania.
Maine, .. 104
New Hampshire,
46
Vermont, ..
61
Massachusetts,
158
Rhode Island,.
12
Connecticut, 22
New York,. 860
New Jersey,. 77
Pennsylvania,. 501
Delaware,
15
Maryland,.
21
Virginia, .
11
Ohio, ..
131
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Indiana.
79
Illinois, ..
6
Michigan,
166
Wisconsin,
71
Minnesota,
56
U. S. Regulars,. 136
Unknown-North,
411
Unknown-South, .
425
Inner Circle,
143
Total,.
.3,512
GETTYSBURG, PA., April 18, 1864.
At a meeting of the Commissioners constituting the Board of Man- agers of the Soldiers' National Cemetery, held on the 7th day of April, A. D. 1864, the following resolution was adopted :
"Resolved, That the President be authorized and directed to make application to the respective States, for such portion of their quota, as shall, from time, be requisite for carrying on the work."
To His Excellency, O. P. MORTON, Governor of Indiana.
SIR :- By virtue of the authority contained in the resolution of which the above is a copy, I hereby make application to the State of Indiana for the sum of one thousand, one hundred and fifty-six dol- lars, to be paid by Samuel R. Russell, Treasurer of the Soldiers' Na- tional Cemetery, being twenty-five per cent of the sum of sixty-three thousand, five hundred dollars, apportioned among the several States represented in the Corporation of the Soldiers' National Cemetery, according to their population as indicated by their representation in the House of Representatives of the United States.
Fractional parts to be adjusted on final settlement.
I am, with respect, your obedient servant,
[Signed] DAVID WILLS,
President of the Soldiers' National Cemetery.
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GETTYSBURG, PA., April 18, 1864.
His Excellency, O. P. MORTON, Governor of Indiana.
SIR :- I enclose you my official application on your State for twenty-five per cent. of its proportionate share of $63,500, for the Soldiers' National Cemetery. There has been over $8,000 already expended, in laying out the grounds, and temporarily enclosing them, and exhuming and burying the dead.
Our State Treasurer advanced $2,192.61 on this account in the commencement of the work, and then declined doing anything further until there was an appropriation for the purpose. I then made arrangements, privately, for sufficient funds to finish such of the work as was necessary to be done promptly, so as to preserve the identity of the marked graves.
We have brought in, during the last week, twenty-two more bodies, and have had a thorough search made again over every part of the battle-field, and I think we have found and removed all our dead.
I am now making arrangements to push forward the work of enclo- sing the grounds permanently as speedily as possible. The Treasu- rer has given bond in $25,000, with three good sureties, and it has been approved by our court and recorded. This bond is highly satis- factory. Please have your remittance made promptly, and notify me, so that I may have an account of the money paid into the Treasurer's hands.
You will also require him to send the proper State authorities his official receipt of the amount paid him on account of the propor- tionate share of Indiana.
I remain your obedient servant,
(Signed,) DAVID WILLS, President of the Soldiers' National Cemetery.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT OF INDIANA, BUREAU OF FINANCE, Indianapolis, May 27, 1864.
Soldiers' National Cemetery.
No. 2,252. Fletcher's Bank pay to Samuel R. Russell, or bearer, eleven hundred and fifty-six dollars, for first assessment of Indiana's share, expense Soldiers' National Cemetery.
$1,156.00. (Signed,)
O P. MORTON, Governor of Indiana.
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SOLDIERS' NATIONAL CEMETERY, TREASURER'S OFFICE, Gettysburg, Pa., June 1, 1864.
Received of the State of Indiana, by Oliver P. Morton, the sum of one thousand one hundred and fifty-six dollars, being twenty-five per cent. of the amount assessed against the State of Indiana for her quota of the cost and expenses of the Soldiers' National Cemetery. by the Board of Managers.
$1,156.00. (Signed,) S. R. RUSSELL, Treasurer Soldiers' National Cemetery.
MAY 27, 1864.
Samuel R. Russell, Treasurer Soldiers' National Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pa .:
SIR :- Inclosed find draft in your favor for the sum of one thous- and one hundred and fifty-six dollars, ($1,156), amount assessed against the State of Indiana by the Board of Managers, as the first installment, being twenty-five per cent. of her quota of the cost and expenses of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg.
Please sign and return to me the enclosed receipt.
By order of Governor Morton.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, (Signed,) W. H. H. TERRELL, Financial Secretary.
MAY 27, 1864.
David Wills, Esq., President Board of Managers, Gettysburg, Pa .:
SIR :- Governor Morton has this day transmitted to Mr. Samuel R. Russell, Treasurer, a draft for the sum of eleven hundred and fifty- six dollars, ($1,156.00,) being twenty-five per cent. of the quota of cost and expenses incurred in establishing the National Cemetery, due from the State of Indiana, as per your requisition on file.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, (Signed,).
W. H. II. TERRELL, Financial Secretary.
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GETTYSBURG, October 31, 1864.
To His Excellency, O. P. Morton, Governor of Indiana:
By virtue of authority given me by a resolution of the Board of Managers of the Soldiers' National Cemetery Association, passed April 7th, 1864, I hereby make application to the State of Indiana for the sum of three thousand four hundred and sixty-nine dollars and eighty-three cents, ($3,469.83.) to be paid to Samuel R. Russell, Treasurer of the Soldiers' National Cemetery ; being the balance of the sum of sixty- three thousand five hundred dollars, apportioned among the several States represented in the Soldiers' National Cem- etery, according to the population, as indicated by their representa- tion in the House of Representatives of the United States.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and affixed the seal of the corporation of the Soldiers' National Cemetery Associa- tion, at Gettysburg, Pa., this 21st day of October, A. D., 1864.
DAVID WILLS, (Signed,)
President of the Soldiers' National Cemetery.
STATEMENT.
Original estimated cost of completing Cemetery, $63,500.
Apportionment among 17 States, having in Congress 151 Repre- sentatives, $420.53 to each Representative.
Indiana has 11 Representatives.
Total amount of proportion of Indiana $4,625 83 1864, June 1st, credited by cash paid S. R. Russell, 1,156 00 Treasurer
Balance, for which requisition has been made $3,469 83
NOVEMBER 30, 1864.
David Wills, Esq., President Soldiers' National Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pa .:
SIR :- Your letter of the 31st ult., addressed to Colonel W. H. H. Terrell, late Financial Secretary to the Governor, has been referred
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to me, with instructions to inform you that your requisition for $3,- 469.83, upon the State of Indiana, being the balance of her propor- tion of the expenses of establishing and completing the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg, can not be met until an appropria- tion is made by the Legislature for that purpose.
The Legislature will convene on the fifth day of January next, at which time the Governor will present the whole matter, and recom- mend that the appropriation be promptly made.
I am with respect, &c.,
,
Yours truly, JNO. C. NEW, Financial Secretary.
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 0 013 702 172 9
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