A Wreath for Andrew T. Jasper: 2023 Wreaths Across America at Winchester National Cemetery

In Winchester National Cemetery in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, there is a Civil War headstone with just the name “Jasper.” No indication if the name was a first or last name, no regiment. Just “Jasper” and the grave number: 3111. Almost as if that was the only name remaining on a headboard at the soldier’s grave on some battlefield, but the burial corps had managed to preserve and etch whatever they had discovered to identify the fallen Union soldier several years after the battle burial.

Who was Jasper? What was his story? Why is he here with just a single name? 

This year—while working on research for ECW’s 2023 fundraiser to support Wreaths Across America—I found “Jasper” in the printed Roll of Honor (a burial record) for Winchester National Cemetery. He is buried in the vicinity of troops from West Virginia, but at the time that did not seem like much of a clue. How could we find Jasper? Where to even start? It seemed like an unlikely success, and I had shelved it for a year when I had more time.

Then, over Labor Day weekend while working through some transcriptions of casualty lists from the battle of New Market, I found something that looked like a possible connection. There was a wounded soldier in the 12th West Virginia Infantry Regiment named “T. Jasper.” Could this be “Jasper” in the cemetery? 

Working through regimental records, census records, county records, and pension files allowed pieces of the puzzle of a life and death to come together. The following is the story of “Jasper” and it is almost certainly the story of the man buried in the single name grave in Winchester National Cemetery.

Andrew T. Jasper was born in 1835 or 1836. He worked as an engineer and possibly a miller, or he may have been an engineer for mills. Andrew married Florida Pritchard in 1856, and they moved to Lewis County, Virginia (West Virginia). The couple had three children: Izora (1857), Virginius (1859), and George (1861). George died in 1865, but the two girls survived childhood. 

Andrew enlisted in Company E of the 12th West Virginia Infantry Regiment. On May 15, 1864, during the battle of New Market, he was shot in the thigh and left behind on the battlefield when his regiment retreated. He stayed in the village of New Market, probably an indicator that his wound was too severe for his Confederate captors to transport him elsewhere—like they did with other wounded. Andrew T. Jasper died on July 21, 1864, and was buried locally in or near New Market. After the end of the Civil War, the U.S. Burial Corps moved through the northern portion of the Shenandoah Valley locating the graves of Union soldiers and removing their remains to Winchester.

Andrew’s death orphaned his children and left his wife a widow. Florida appears to have received a widow’s pension for a short time; she remarried in December 1865. Izora and Virginius had legal guardians assist them with applying for orphans’ pensions in 1866, resulting in the creation of a 40 page pension file and the preservation of their father’s service record. 

Now, we know his full name and his story. This is a story of a father who became a soldier. The story of a young man who died when he was 28 or 29. Not just a single name on a gravestone anymore. 

Yesterday, in Winchester National Cemetery more than 3000 wreaths were placed during the Wreaths Across America ceremony and volunteer opportunity. (110 of those wreaths were placed through your generous donations to Emerging Civil War’s fundraiser in October!) It was encouraging to see a significant increase in the number of wreaths at this national cemetery and the many volunteers who came to place them.

I had the honor of returning to the grave 3111 that says “Jasper.” As I straightened the red bow and prepared the wreath, my mind remembered the reverse slope of Bushong Hill where the 12th West Virginia endured the battle of New Market and the streets of that historic village. Places where this soldier fought his last battle and spent the final weeks of his life. I still wonder if his widow or daughters ever visited his grave in Winchester National Cemetery.

But we were there. I glanced at Jon Tracey, who has been pursuing cemetery research and has co-hosted the Wreaths fundraiser at Emerging Civil War. He knows Jasper’s story, too. I placed the wreath and softly said the single name on the headstone as the tradition demands. But then I said his full name: “Andrew T. Jasper.” Because now we know…and we remember.