The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1902-12-25

| Col. Putnam's body was sent back. Ye
| Col. Shaw's name and fame, and the place
| of his burial, are more prominent in his
| tory in consequence. A soldiers buria
| is in the thought of a soldier as he face:
| death; but his fame is surer than his bur
ial.
Many a veteran soldier, after such ex
peiiences as those of Kinston and Morris
Island, unused of the future, as he toilet
and suffered in the dragging siege, or a
| the periious front:
"And wonder, when this has all passed
DER.
And the tattered old Stars in triumph
| wave OH
Through street and square, with welcom
ing roar,
If ever they'll think of US who are gone
''How we marched together. sound or sick
Sank in the trench DER the heavy
spade
How we charged on the guns at double
quick,
Kept rank for Death to choose and to
And lay on the bed no fair hands
made"
| KNOWN AND UNKNOWN GRAVES.
IT seems to be an instinct of orr human
nature to desire TO be buried. From time
immemorial, among primitive peoples as
among the most highly civilized, it has
been looked upon as terrible indignity
or misfortune to be left unburied. The
lack Of burial would have been deemed a
Divine judgment among the ancient peo-
pies Of the East, and the possibility OF
such fate for any one of our dear ones
is something from which we cannot bu,
shrink. Moreover, there is certain com
| fort, sad though it be, in Knowing jus,
| where our dead are laid, and having the
privilege of visiting the hallowed grave.
In my boyhood home there was, in the
village cemetery, monument over the
grave of British midshipman, who was
killed in boat during the attack on
Stonington, in the War of 1912. His
body WAS brought on shore and buried a,
the time. After the war his fellow-offi-
GERS erected this monument to his memory
My mother told me, in my early days, that
some years after the war, when yoy-
age across the ocean was more of an un.
dertaking than journey round the world
is now, ali English gentleman, presumably
the young midshipmans father, came to
| the village, and, inquiring about that
grave, went out to it to weep there, and tt
have the slight consolation of being neal
| the spot where his son was laid in the soil
Of a stranger land That incident was
| often in my mind when request came tC
me, in my army life, to tell about sol
dier's grave, or to assist in sending home
soldiers body.
l knew Northern mother who lost a
loved son III naval attack on Southern
fort. His body was borne to his home
and his mother found certain relief in
| visiting his grave. Another son Of that
! mother was last seen on the field MORALLY
wounded in u great battle She never
knew where was his grave. or whether he
was buried. For months she Travelled and
wrote in vain search for information about
him. Ten years after the war She was
still as uneasy about him as the week of
his death. Yet she had no such anxiety
or mental suffering as to the brave son
whose grave was in the family burial
place. l saw in her case how much the
knowledge of the fact of soldiers burial
might be TO the home loved ones.
While we were near the Atlantic coast
in our army service, it was practicable to
send to the North u soldiers body, if il
could be obtained from the battlefield and
the mlitary authorities would allow it.
Often the transportation Of bodies on
Government transports was forbidden dur.
| ing the hotter months, or at any season
unless embalmed. In many an instance
as at Morris Island, the body could not be
recovered. When a body could be buried
in wel!-marked grave, and the relatives
knew OF the fact, it was next best to
| having it near home, and indeed it left the
hope OF subsequent recovery of the body.
An understanding of this state Of things
impelled soldiers TO make every reasonable
effort to secure a fitting burial to their
comrades.