Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1874-02-28
Washington (COnfederate) Cemetery
HAGERSTOWN.

Trustees OF Washington cemetery "
Governor Whyte. 1t will be seen that
the $4,000 appropriated by the Legisla-
ture of Maryland to this Cemetery upon
its incorporation has been most eco
nomical!y and judiciously expended, In
| the removal Of upwards Of l,7oo dead
Confederates from the battle field OF
Sharpsburg. We understand that the
Trustees are determined to gather TO-
gether all the Confederate dead who
are scattered about in that part OF
Maryland for interment in their Gene.
terry, and that they expect an additional
appropriation from the Legislature OF
Maryland. While that noble State has
always given with bounteous generos-
itv, it strikes us that both Virginia and
West Virginia ought to have made
some appropriation for their dead in
Washington Cemetery -
Report of the Trustees of Washing
ton Cemetery.-Hagerstown, Md, 9th
Dec, 1873.-To His Excellency, VIM.
Pinkney Whyte, Governor of Mary
land.-Sir: AS trustees of Washing
ton Cemetery, located at this place, we
beg leave to submit the following re-
port "Washington Cemetery" was
incorporated by an act of the General
Assembly of Maryland, approved 4th of
April, 1870, (acts 1870, chapter 213) by
which the sum of $4,000 was appropri-
ated for the purpose "ot final resting
place Of the remains OF the Confederate
dead aud all others of both armies in
the late war who fell in the battles OF
Antietam, South Mountain, Monocacy,
and other places in the State of Mary
land and Gettysburg" the said cemete-
ry to be located within mile of Ha-
eerstown. Under that act of Assembly
we were appointed Trustees of Wash
ington Cemetery by his Excellency,
Governor Bowie After our appoint
ment there was some delay in the exc
cution of the trust, produced by our
inability to procure suitable grounds
with the limited means at our disposal.
We finally, and in accordance with the
discretion vested in us by section 2, OF
the act of Assembly, purchased por-
ton of Rose Hill Cemetery, lying near
Hagerstown, for the sum of 81, 400.
This purchase was duly reported to
your Excellency and approved.
Upon enquiry and examination we
found that all the dead of the Federal
army who fell in this portion of Mary
land had been buried in Antietam Ma
tional Cemetery near Sharpsburg Ito
which Maryland had given a liberal
appropriations or had been removed
from the State and there were none
who required our care.
Turning our attention then to the
Confederate dead who lay about Sharps-
burg and throughout the county, it was
our desire to adopt plan by which we
could collect and bury the greatest
number of dead with the small SUN Of
$4,000 left in our hands. Believing
that any contract for the removal of the
dead to Washington Cemetery per cap
ita would soon exhaust the fund, we
deemed it best to select a reliable and
energetic agent who would employ
hands, purchase lumber, have collins
made, and the bodies exhumed and
moved with strict regard to economy
and the due execution of our trust.
Such a man we found in Mr.. Henry G.
Mumma, of Sharpsburg, and the faith
full manner in which he performed his
duties fully justified our confidence in
him and the plan we adopted. The
report of the Treasurer of the Board Of
Trustees, accompanying this report
and which, with its vouchers, has been
carefully examined by the President of
the Board-will show to your Excel
lency that with the small means in our
hands, after the purchase of the grounds
and after the deduction of necessary
costs and expenses otherwise incurred,
we removed from the battle field of
Antietam and vicinity to Washington
Cemetery 172l dead bodies ard have
vet the sum of s413.34 remaining in
the Treasury. This balance is to be
expended in sodding the graves and in
other necessary work in the cemetery
so far as it will reach. 1t will not be
sufficient to purchase, in addition, the
ordinary head-boards with which the
graves should be marked. Your Ex-
cellency will observe that these dead
bodies have been exhumed, transported
and reburied at very little more than 81
per body; and when you are informed
that the battlefield from which they
were collected is about IL miles from
the cemetery, that the DO dies were scat
tered all over that vicinity in fields,
wood and lanes, where they had lain
for nearly 10 years, generally unmarked
and unknown, we think your Excellen-
CIV will note the contrast presented by
this report with the large sums expend-
ed by other cemeteries in the removal
of dead bodies by contract, sometimes
exceeding $40 per body.
We think it proper to add from the
best information we can obtain, there
are yet about 500 bodies of Confederate
soldiers in the vicinity of South Noun
tain and in other places in Washington
County, which our means would not
enable us to reach; but it will not be
possible to gather them together and
inter them in the cemetery with as lit
tie cost in proportion as the others.
These bodies are scattered throughout
- t.