John E . Hart John Elliot Hart ( April 4 , 1824 – June 11 , 1863 ) was an officer in the Union Navy during the American Civil War . He died in June 1863 on board his ship USS " Albatross " while taking part in the Union attempt to blockade the Mississippi River . He is best known for the unusual circumstances of his burial in Louisiana , which the town of St . Francisville , Louisiana , commemorates every year in a three - day festival called " The Day the War Stopped " . Early life . Hart was born in 1824 in New York City to a family with 200 - year roots there . His father was Benjamin Franklin Hart and his mother was Sarah Ann Copp . The family had a strong Navy tradition . His grandfather John Elliot Copp , for whom he was named , and his uncle Ezekiel Bishop Hart were both killed serving in the Navy during the War of 1812 . He moved to Schenectady , New York in the 1850s , and in 1855 he married Harriet " Hattie " Van Vorst , the mayor ' s daughter . They had one surviving child , Abraham Elliot Hart , as well as a son and daughter who died in infancy . In 1857 he joined the local Masonic lodge and rose to the rank of Master . Naval career . Hart was appointed a Midshipman in the Navy on February 2 , 1841 . He served in the Brazil Squadron aboard USS " Marion " and USS " John Adams " , and in 1846 he circumnavigated the globe aboard USS " Constitution " . In late 1846 he was admitted to the newly opened United States Naval Academy and graduated as a Passed Midshipman in the class of 1847 . He served on various ships including USS " St . Lawrence " , USS " Michigan " , and USS " Jamestown " . While serving on " Jamestown " he was promoted to Lieutenant . He took a leave of absence in the late 1850s , then served in the Mediterranean aboard USS " Iroquois " . Following the outbreak of the Civil War he served aboard USS " Vincennes " , and was part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron on the Mississippi River under Admiral David Farragut . He was appointed a Lieutenant Commander on July 16 , 1862 . In August 1862 he was transferred to the gunship USS " Albatross " , and in October 1862 he was put in command of " Albatross " when the captain was relieved of his post . The " Albatross " and other ships engaged two Confederate steamers in the Red River near Fort DeRussey on 4 May 1863 . It was later claimed that " Albatross " had shelled St . Francisville under Hart ' s command , but no such incident can be found in the ship ' s log , and the historic shelling of St . Francisville actually took place in January 1864 . In June 1863 , while " Albatross " was stationed above Port Hudson , Louisiana , he contracted yellow fever . A few days later he became delusional , and on June 11 , 1863 , he committed suicide in his cabin with his own revolver . He was officially listed as " killed in battle " . Burial . His officers were unable to send his body home to Schenectady for burial , and knowing he would wish a Masonic burial , Executive Officer Theodore B . Dubois went ashore under a flag of truce to ask if there were any Masons in the area who would conduct a funeral . They were put in contact with Confederate Army Captain William Walter Leake , a company commander with the 1st Louisiana Cavalry , who was home on furlough . Leake was Senior Warden of Feliciana Lodge No . 31 in the nearby town of St . Francisville , and he made arrangements for Hart to be buried at Grace Episcopal Church there . A truce was arranged so that the Union officers could bring his body ashore , attend the funeral , and return to their ship to resume their blockade . A joint party of Union and Confederate officers , all Masons , participated in the funeral on June 12 , 1863 . The pastor of Grace Church , Rev . Daniel S . Lewis , conducted an Episcopal service , and Leake as acting Master of the lodge led the Masonic service . Leake , who later became Master of the St . Francisville lodge , maintained Hart ' s grave and decorated it with flowers for the next 49 years , until his own death in 1912 . Leake was buried near Hart , and the two former enemies are commemorated with a single marble slab , placed in 1955 by the Grand Lodge of the State of Louisiana and " dedicated to the universality of Freemasonry " . In 1906 Hart ' s son Abraham Elliot Hart , who had been 7 when his father died , learned from his mother about his father ' s burial by a Confederate officer . The son , who went by the name A . Elliot Hart , wrote to Leake , who still lived in St . Francisville , to thank him for his service to his fallen father . He said he had only then learned about it and that Leake ' s kindness had made a profound impression on him . Frank Karwowski , the historian of the Masonic lodge in Schenectady , became interested in the story and began researching it . In 1999 he and the St . Francisville lodge cooperated in staging a reenactment of the truce and burial , billed as " The Day the War Stopped " ; the tradition has been continued annually in June ever since . It is now a three - day festival with lectures and a parade in addition to the re - enactments . Karwowski himself plays Hart for a talk on Friday night and Hart ' s second - in - command Dubois for the funeral re - enactment on Saturday . Members of the St . Francisville lodge portray Leake ; past portrayers have included a U . S . Congressman and Leake ' s great - great - grandson . During the 2000s Karwowski began to contact descendents of Hart and Leake , inviting them to attend the re - enactment weekend , and several have done so , particularly in 2013 for the 150th anniversary of the event . Namesake . USS " Hart " ( DD - 110 ) was named for him and his uncle Ezekiel B . Hart .