The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1899-01-24
Whe Nerala aud A)e'rs
tue CONFEDERATE DEAD.
Fu,l Number VIII Never ba Known-What
the Available Figures show Of LOSS
es by Giattio ana Disease.
New York Sun. }

for tho Confederate dead that na-
tional cemeteries shall be provided
for them as in the case Of tho Union
dead Of tho war, then tho question,
Where aro the Confederate doad
becomes ono Of vital importance. So
does another: How many Confed-
crates died and were killed during
the civil war?
The official returns of death losses
in the Confederate armies on file in
tho war department in Washington
arc incomplete and unsatisfactory
Nearly all tho rolls of Alabama
troops are missing, and those Of nouc
of tho States arc completes. The nc
tual extent of their losses by disease
and cusna,ies in battle must ever re-
main Il matter of cou lecture. The
losses in tho Union armies from the
complete pay rolls, according to tho
original tabulation supposed 10 have
been accurately kept, were suhsc-
quently largely increased in the item
of "kilcd or died of w0nnds," based
upon the papers officially known rs
tho '1inal statements" and through
the investigation of pension claims.
This tnbulatlon, as finally revised
and corrected, shows that those who
died Of disease in tho Union armies
were in the ratio Of two to ono of
those killed in battle or died of
wounds. That is to say, l09,G'9
mon wcro killed or died Of wounds,
while 224 ,GSG Union soldiers died Of
disease.
Almost Immediately after tho war
was over the national government set
on foot measures to identify is vast
army of dead in 30 far rs it was pos
s!Hl0. TO collect the remains in ma
tional cemeteries and mark their
graves. Seventy six cemeteries were
established throughout tho Union,
which includes ono in the city of
Mexico, whore thcS Sdcad Of the Mcxi-
can war uro collected, northern and
southern lying side by sido in that
far off cemetery. Tho minority of
those beautiful cemeteries, carefully
cared for and upon which largo sums
OF money are annually expended, aro
In the southern States. But thous-
sAh1H ellfasb of Uf0n tla3 i.o bur lU;tla Ii II
tho Norrh, where they died in hcspit-
nj and while ut home on sick leave
In nearly all cases the government
OWNS the ground, and all the i'm
proyemonts arc Of a lasting charac-
tor. There has been an cndenvor to
erect grave markings which would
last for ages. In these cemeteries
tho soldiers grave is marked ly Il
small marble block projecting about
foot above ground, sometimes with
his namo carved upon it, but gcncr-
ally 1t merely currics number, and
in book in tho supcrintcndcnt's
charge, there is corresponding mum
Dor, with tho dead mans name oppo-
site, or tho sad word "uuknown."
Now, this great work of collecting.
identifying and marking tho burial
places O! tho Union dead was begun
immcd' 'atcly after tho war, when it
was oasy to como at every source Of
information concerning thcso d"ccas-
oil soldiers, yet it is shocking fact
that ont Of total Of 3GO, ,20G Union
dead tho graves Of l30,l05 mo
marked unknown, Notwithstanding
the great facilities then existing for
lentiiication.
OF 33,520 Union Negro soldiers
buried i'll thcso cemeteries %, 500 arc
unknown.
Under such favorable circumstunc.
es if moro than ono third Of tho Un- |
ion head had to he marked unknown.
what will bo tho result of any systo
matic attempt to collect and mark |
the graves of tho Confederate doad, |
thirty five years after tho war3 Prob.
ably hardly one-tenth Of tho occn-
pants Of the graves found could with
any degree of certainty be identified, !
besides which tho burial pl GO of
thousands Of tho Confederate dead
in tho natnre Of thInus cannot Lo