A quiet secluded valley surrounded by towering trees and gentle slopes cradles the remains of about 400 Confederate soldiers who lost their lives in the bloody two-day Battle of Resaca, May 14-15, 1864.
That the Civil War-era cemetery exists at all can be credited to two sisters whose home lay within the battle zone.
According to the Bicentennial History of Gordon County, Col. John F. Green was forced by the battle to take his family and flee. When they returned, members were stricken by the sight that greeted them — the Federals had collected and properly interred their dead, but the fleeing Confederates had not had time to properly bury their own.
Around the house on all sides were scattered graves of soldiers who had been buried where they fell. Low mounds and shallow depressions dotted the battle-scathed land for hundreds of yards. Some of the bodies were exposed; others only hastily covered with dirt.
Col. Green’s daughters, Mary and Pyatt, with the help of their black cook and black maid, dug graves with their own hands and began burying the fallen soldiers in their flower garden. This was the beginning of the Resaca Confederate Cemetery, the oldest Confederate military burial ground in Georgia and one of the two oldest in the South.
No money for the gruesome task
More @ Dalton Daily
Great story, and very inspirational. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading.
DeleteA noble Southern Family and great deed!
ReplyDelete