The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-01-25

cemeteries shall b = provided fer them
ss in thecsse Oft .e Union dead of the
war, then the question, Where are the
Confederate dead? becomes one of
vital Importance. So does another:
How many Confeder tes died aud were
killed during the civil war?
The official returns Of death losses
in the Confederate armies on file in
the war department in Washington
are incomplete aud unsatisfactory.
Nearly all the rolls Of Alabama troops
are missing, and those Of none of the
States are complete. The actual ex-
tent Of their losses by disease aud
easualaies in battle must ever remain
amatter Of conjecture. The losses in
the Union armies from the complete
pay rolls, according to the original
sabulation supposed to have been ac-
eurately kept, we're subsequently
largely increased in the item Of kill
Sd or q ed Of wounds, based upon the
papers officially known as the '6ual
statements aud through the investi-
CATION Of pension claims. This tsbu-
laticn, as finally revised and correct
ed, shows that those who died OF
disease in the Union armies were in
che ratio Of two to one Of those killed
in battle or died Of wounds. That is
60 say, l99,6 men were k,lledo or died
of wounds, while 22A,586 Union SOL
diers died Of disease.
Almost immediately after the war
was over the national government set
on foot measures to identify its vast
army Of dead IN so far as it was possi-
BILE, to collect the remains in national
cemeteries and mark their graves.
Seventy-six cemeteries we're establish
ed throughout the Union, which in
eludes one in the city Of Mexico,
where the dead Of the Mexican war
are collected, Northern and Senthern
lying side by side in that far OF ceme-
terry. The majority Of these beauti-
full cemeteries, carefully cared for and
upon which large sums Of money are
annually expended, are in the South
ern States. But thousands of the
Union dead lie buried in the North,
where they died in hospital and while
at home on sick leave. In nearly all
cases the governmentow the ground
and all the improvements are of
lasting character. There has been an
endeavor to erect grave markings
which would last for ages. In these
cemeteries the soldier grave is mark
ed by small marble block projecting
about a foot above ground, sometimes
with his name carved upon it, bat
generally it merely carries a number,
and in book in the saperintendent's
charge there is corresponding num-
ber, with the dead mans name oppo-
site, or the sad word "unknown.
Now, this great work Of collecting,
identifying and marking the burial
places Of the Union dead was begun
Immediately after the war, when it
was easy to come at every source of
information concerning these deceased
soldiers, yet it is shocking fact that
out Of a total Of 360,2O7 Union dead
the graves of l39 ,495 are marked un-
known, Notwithstanding the great ia
.cilities then existing for Identification.
OF 1880 Union negro soldiers
buried IN these cemeteries 2O,505 are
unknown.
Under such favorable circumstances
If more than one-third Of fhc Union
dead had to be marked unknown,
what will be the result Of any system
attic attempt to collect and mark the
graves Of the Confederate dead, thirty
FIVE years after the war? Probably
hardly onc-tenth Of the occupants OF
the graves found could with any de-
gree of certainty be identified, besides
which the burial place Of thousands of
the Confederate dead in the nature OF
things cannot be found at all. More
than 90 600 Union men, killed or died
Of disease, were lost entirely, and are
not carried on these cemetery rolls rs
either known Or unknown. These
figures are appalling, yet it Is easy to
comprehend their magnitude in view
of all the circumstances-the war 5
length. wide theatre and numerous
battles and skirmishes in dense woods
and broken ground 1t is likely taat
the proportion ol Confederate dead
considering their inadequate facilities
Of all kinds for caring for the sick IN
hospita, and wounded on tho baltic
field, completely lost to all ken, wculd
be fully as great as the Union figures,
although their losses were considera-
blv loss in the aggregate while greater