After the Civil War, many former soldiers moved west to begin new lives. The reasons why were varied.
Some sought adventure. Others were no longer particularly welcome at home – Southerners who’d fought for the Union, for example. Others stayed in the Army and were posted in the West, settling there after getting out.
Pueblo, Colorado, was the destination of quite a number of such individuals. A single cemetery there – Roselawn Cemetery – contains the graves of 355 Civil War veterans.
Four of those Civil War soldiers recently made the news. One had died in 1899; another, in 1900; a third, in 1901. The last of the four died in 1921.
They died, in Pueblo, without known next of kin. They were buried at Roselawn Cemetery.
Their graves were presumably originally marked in some way. But over time, as can sometimes happen in older cemeteries with no family to tend them . . . their graves’ whereabouts became lost.
Enter two organizations: the Concerned Citizens of Roselawn Cemetery and the Buffalo Soldiers of the American West.
In conducting research for a presentation on Roselawn’s history, the Concerned Citizens of Roselawn Cemetery noted an issue. While cemetery records showed that 355 Civil War veterans were buried there, they could only find 351 of them.
Using cemetery records, they located the missing gravesites. Identifying which was which took additional work, but through consulting archived records and obituaries they were eventually able to identify the graves of each of the four individuals.
Each of the four was a Southerner who’d fought for the Union. One was an officer, 1LT Louis Young; the other three – CPL Thomas Walker, PVT James W. Williams, and PVT George Washington – were freed slaves who’d later fought for the Union. The four hailed from Virginia, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
One of the two organizations – it’s not clear which – arranged for proper burial markers for these men. Those markers were emplaced; and earlier this month, members of the Buffalo Soldiers of the American West participated in a formal ceremony unveiling the new markers.
Rest well, elder brothers-in-arms. We’re sorry it took so long, but your resting places now are properly marked.
And to all who participated in preserving these men’s history: kudos – and thanks.
