Via Carl
The Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier is a tomb on the grounds of Beauvoir in Biloxi, Mississippi, that holds the remains of an unidentified Confederate soldier of the American Civil War.
The remains were discovered in late 1979 on a battlefield of the Vicksburg Campaign. Artifacts accompanying the remains showed that the person had been a Confederate soldier but did not show the person's identity, unit, or place of origin.
The discovery led to the establishment of the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier in the Confederate Veterans Cemetery at Beauvoir. The soldier's remains were buried there in a cypress casket in 1980. The tomb, inscribed "Known but to God", was dedicated on June 6, 1981. Approval of the plan and official designation was sought and received from all recognized Confederate organizations.
The tomb's two sides are inscribed: "The Unknown Soldier of the Confederate States of America." The head of the tomb bears the inscription: Known but to God. Atop of the tomb is the Great Seal of the Confederate States of America, and at its foot is a stanza from the poem CSA by Abram Joseph Ryan.
Thou art sleeping, brother, sleeping
In thy lonely battle grave;
Shadows o'er the past are creeping,
Death, the reaper, still is reaping,
Years have swept, and years are sweeping
Many a memory from my keeping,
But I'm waiting still, and weeping
For my beautiful and brave.
When the battle songs were chanted,
And war's stirring tocsin pealed,
By those songs thy heart was haunted,
And thy spirit, proud, undaunted,
Clamored wildly -- wildly panted:
"Mother! let my wish be granted;
I will ne'er be mocked and taunted
That I fear to meet our vaunted
Foemen on the bloody field.
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