Writing Tempest: Visiting the Graves of the 16th Mississippi
I stopped by the Confederate cemetery in Spotsylvania Court House last week to pay my respects to the members of the 16th Mississippi, whose original graves are on the cover of my book A Tempest of Iron and Lead.
My friend John Cummings wrote an important coda for the end of the book that explains the story of the men who lie in those graves. Originally buried on the Spotsylvania Court House battlefield, on the farm of Neil McCoul, they were later reinterred in Spotsylvania’s Confederate cemetery along with more than 600 other fallen Confederates. Eventually, there would be more than 740 marked graves.
In a way, those boys from Mississippi: so far away from home, serve as the symbol for all the fallen soldiers at Spotsylvania—nearly 4,250 of them.
The day could not have been prettier for my visit. The well-kept lawn was still flush with summer green, although the trees in and around the cemetery were heavy with gold, auburn, and crimson. The gravestones stood stark white against all that color. I did not think of rows of small ghosts, although the spirits of the men were certainly there, conjured by my thoughts. That is, after all, one of the reasons why we remember, isn’t it? So their spirits and sacrifices don’t lie forgotten?
I don’t visit this cemetery very often, I admit. Once upon a time, I lived part-time in the caretaker’s cottage at Fredericksburg National Cemetery, and so I feel a strong pull to wander among those graves on those times when I feel the need to remember the dead. Sometimes, I’ll walk among the grave pits scattered through the woods at the Wilderness. But today, I have come here specifically to find these men from Mississippi and offer them my thanks. I have used their sacrifices as an example, and I hope that example gives people pause as they consider the cost of war and, specifically, the cost of the battle of Spotsylvania Court House.
These Mississippians—indeed, the fallen men from both sides—never got to go home. They are part of Virginia now. They are part of our American story. They are part of my story and I, now, am part of theirs.
Good article Chris! I am reading your book on Spotsylvania now. I have not been to the Confederate cemetery before but will visit it the next time I am in that area.
My 1st cousin 4x removed (my great-great grandmother’s 1st cousin) is buried there – Private James Thomas Keasler, Company H, 5th Alabama Infantry was killed May 12 during the battle at the Mule Shoe. His brother-in-law James Josephus McGahey was in the same regiment, but died of disease in Frederick, Maryland just before the Battle of Antietam and is buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Frederick.
I asked Big French how the stones were all in such great shape (regular cleaning), and so symmetrical in rows and by State.
It seems the stones were provided by the War Department, about WW-I era, but I don’t remember the exact year / decade.
Brought by rail, then transferred by wagons from there to the cemetery.
The stones were placed as you now see them.
The soldiers are out there somewhere in that old farmers field, although they may well not be not under the stone with their name on it.
And that’s how the story went. Very interesting.
The reason for studying the Civil War and its causes – 600,000 lives were lost, plus collateral losses estimated at 300,000+. It’s important to be honest about those causes, and the total truth of the past, so that those ghosts can finally rest in peace.
I’ve started reading your book and I find it very interesting. You can almost feel that you are there as these events are happening. Years ago, my husband, daughter and I went to Spotsylvania Court house and the salient. I’m looking forward to understanding this area much more. I’m on May 10 in the book.
The stones look wonderful – clearly someone is taking great care of them. It brings an idea. A nonprofit should be formed to care for every single cemetery stone and monument to every single soldier of the Civil War. As all of us have seen upon visiting CW cemeteries, many stones need to be cleaned/repaired/replaced/protected. Let’s raise the funds and the staff to do it.