The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10
SAW GREENE BURIED
ANDREW MARSHAL1S PERSONAL
RECOLLECTIONs OF FUNERAL.
C0L0RED PREACHERS STORY.
PUNCH AND BISCUIT SERVED ON
THE ROAD TO THE CEMETERY.

The Old Preacher Attempted a Short
Time Before His Death to Locate
the Grave of the Revolutionary
HerO-8is Account of the Patriots
FuneraI-CoI. Gardeners Delay in
Coming to Savannah May Result in
Further Information for the Com
mittee.
An eyewitness to the funeral of Gen.
Nathaniel Greene lived in 1860, and his
recollections of that event were told to a
historian. They now appear in Sprague's
Annals of the American Pulpit" Andrew
Marshall. the colored preacher who was
so well known in Savannah during the
first half of the last century and whose
name is revered among the colored peo-
pie, was the witness of the funeral. and
the historian has the following in con-
nection with the death ana burial Of Gen.
Greene and the impressions of Andrew
Marshall:
Marshall was an eyewitness of many
of the stirring events which occurred in
Savannah and its vicinity during the Rev
dictionary War. He was a trustworthy
servant, especially when honored with
any unusual promotion and responsibility.
Even in the last war with England, he
was employed for a period of six weeks
by officers of the government or Of the
army on some important business, and
for this he refused any compensation, as
he always claimed to be a true American
and cheerfully shared in the tolls and
sufferings of the white population though
never with any unseemly pretentions on
his part.
He had distinct personal recollections
of Gen. Nathaniel Greene. His account
of that hero's early death agrees with
the traditions which have been carefully
attested by gentlemen familiar with his
torical researches. His account of the
hero's funeral in Savannah is the only
apparently faithful picture which can
now be furnished, whether from written
chronicles or from personal traditions
He described the surprise, grief and IN
dignation of the people of the city at the
early and untoward death of Gen. Greene
and their willing mind but Intellectual de-
sires to stand up for his honor and de-
Tense.
The town and region around were sum-
moned to the funeral, and tubs of punch
anu UdITelS Oh DlSCuIl were pldCCu dlOli5
the road near the cemetery 10 refresh the
wearied multitude. Andrew declared that
he could pace off the distance from the
gate of the old cemetery on South Broad
street to within half a dozen steps of the
spot where the General was buried. But
his aid in verifying this locality had been
too long deferred when an investigation
was attempted few years ago, especial
ly as it was then established by sufficient
evidence that the remains of Gen. Greene
had been eXhumed and removed to a spot
which cannot now be identified"
The Savannah members of the commit
tee that are to conduct the renewed search
for the remains of Gen. Greene have re-
ceived no further information from Col.
Asa Bird Gardiner, as to the date of his
arrival. In the meantime they are eager
to receive any data that may throw light
upon the mystery that shrouds the burial
place of the revolutionary hero.
A correspondent of the Morning News
who is an adherent to the belief that
Gen. Greene's body lies at Dungeness, in
sists that it is not in the cemetery but
about seventy yards distant, where it was
surreptitiously buried by George Wash
ington Greene a son of the general, af-
ter he had distracted it in dead of night
from its first resting place in the old Co.
lonial cemetery in Savannah.
A slab was placed upon the grave, it is
claimed, to mark it for future indentifi-
cation, but the slab was placed with its
inscription downward. Years ago the
grave was found by residents of St
Mary's or vicinity, but the remains were
not disturbed. The slab, however, was
removed and placed above mound that
was made to initiate a grave. This time,
the story goes, the slab was placed with
is face up, and it is that slab, the be
lever in Gen. Greene's body being at
Dungeness says, that. in all probability,
has been seen and declared to rest above
tha rnrnn ms Of Cen Grnnnn