bobdina
09-20-2009, 06:00 PM
September 18, 2009
Army News Service|by SrA Jameel Moses
SHARPSBURG, Md. - The remains of a Union Civil War Soldier found nearly a year ago here at the Antietam National Battlefield were transferred from the Antietam National Cemetery Lodge to his home state of New York.
The Soldier will be interred tomorrow at the Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville, N.Y., with full military honors.
The New York National Guard accepted the transfer of remains of the Soldier from the Maryland National Guard, which also conducted the honors ceremony at Antietam.
The remains were escorted by the Patriot Guard Riders Association for the 330-mile trip to the New York State Military Museum, where they lie in repose today with a military honor guard.
"It is right and fitting that today's Citizen-Soldiers from New York state bring home this unknown New York volunteer of the Civil War," said Maj. Gen. Joseph Taluto, the New York adjutant general. "The Soldier's Creed reminds all American Soldiers that we never leave a fallen comrade behind. This is a way for Soldiers of today to care for a fallen comrade from our past."
The Soldier, who was determined to be between 17 and 19 years old when he was killed, is scheduled to be buried on the 147th anniversary of the battle, which was the bloodiest day of the Civil War.
"The majority of the men who came here and were killed, did not have the opportunity to go back home," said J.W. Howard, superintendent of the Antietam National Battlefield and Antietam National Cemetery. "In our national cemetery, there are over 1,500 unknown graves and you do not know who these young men were, and yet you knew they came here and made this sacrifice. The idea of being able to send him home was something the entire staff stood behind. It was the right thing to do."
The Soldier's remains were discovered by a hiker from Oklahoma who was walking along the battlefield last October.
Howard said the hiker was walking on a trail running through the Miller cornfield, where the bloodiest fighting of the 12-hour battle occurred. A pile of dirt that a groundhog had dug caught his eye. After a closer look, the hiker realized what he had stumbled upon.
The remains included more than 400 bone fragments from 24 different bones, seven coat buttons, two New York state cuff buttons from the left sleeve, six trouser buttons, a leather strap and a belt buckle. They were placed into a box made by a carpenter at Antietam from a walnut tree cut down on the battlefield.
The uniform items will be buried along with the Soldier. "We consider this to be a part of his uniform he was wearing when he died," said Howard. "They should be buried with him."
Army News Service|by SrA Jameel Moses
SHARPSBURG, Md. - The remains of a Union Civil War Soldier found nearly a year ago here at the Antietam National Battlefield were transferred from the Antietam National Cemetery Lodge to his home state of New York.
The Soldier will be interred tomorrow at the Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville, N.Y., with full military honors.
The New York National Guard accepted the transfer of remains of the Soldier from the Maryland National Guard, which also conducted the honors ceremony at Antietam.
The remains were escorted by the Patriot Guard Riders Association for the 330-mile trip to the New York State Military Museum, where they lie in repose today with a military honor guard.
"It is right and fitting that today's Citizen-Soldiers from New York state bring home this unknown New York volunteer of the Civil War," said Maj. Gen. Joseph Taluto, the New York adjutant general. "The Soldier's Creed reminds all American Soldiers that we never leave a fallen comrade behind. This is a way for Soldiers of today to care for a fallen comrade from our past."
The Soldier, who was determined to be between 17 and 19 years old when he was killed, is scheduled to be buried on the 147th anniversary of the battle, which was the bloodiest day of the Civil War.
"The majority of the men who came here and were killed, did not have the opportunity to go back home," said J.W. Howard, superintendent of the Antietam National Battlefield and Antietam National Cemetery. "In our national cemetery, there are over 1,500 unknown graves and you do not know who these young men were, and yet you knew they came here and made this sacrifice. The idea of being able to send him home was something the entire staff stood behind. It was the right thing to do."
The Soldier's remains were discovered by a hiker from Oklahoma who was walking along the battlefield last October.
Howard said the hiker was walking on a trail running through the Miller cornfield, where the bloodiest fighting of the 12-hour battle occurred. A pile of dirt that a groundhog had dug caught his eye. After a closer look, the hiker realized what he had stumbled upon.
The remains included more than 400 bone fragments from 24 different bones, seven coat buttons, two New York state cuff buttons from the left sleeve, six trouser buttons, a leather strap and a belt buckle. They were placed into a box made by a carpenter at Antietam from a walnut tree cut down on the battlefield.
The uniform items will be buried along with the Soldier. "We consider this to be a part of his uniform he was wearing when he died," said Howard. "They should be buried with him."