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Parkers Crossroads in Henderson County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
 

Union Cemetery

 
 
Union Cemetery Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Shane Oliver, April 3, 2021
1. Union Cemetery Marker
Inscription. At least 30 Union soldiers were killed during the battle at Parker's Crossroads. Those who were killed in action were buried here shortly after the battle took place.

Those burials took places according to orders issued by the War Department in April 1862 directing commanding generals to "Lay off lots of ground in some suitable spot near every battlefield … and to cause the remains of those killed to be interred, with headboards to the graves bearing numbers, and where practicable, the names of the persons buried in them." Registers were to be kept listing the names of the persons buried. Records of burials were ultimately sent to the quartermaster general's office in Washington, D.C.

Immediately after the war ended a concerted effort began to identify the resting places of the Union dead and to remove them to national cemeteries, many of which were founded in those early post-war years. In July 1867 the bodies of the soldiers buried here were exhumed and reinterred at the National Cemetery in Corinth, Mississippi.

The monument was erected by the Parker's Crossroads Battlefield Association in 1994 to commemorate the initial resting place of the Union soldiers killed in action.

The Union Dead

The names below are those of the men killed during the Battle of Parker's
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Crossroads and who were probably buried in this cemetery.

122nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry
Private John Baird
Private Roswell Briggs
Second Lieutenant Pleasant L. Bristow
Private Jesse T. Bryant
Private Joseph S. Crossgrove
Private John W. Davis
Private George W. Finch
Corporal Reuben R. Fletcher
Private James T. Gibson
Private Samuel F. Hicks
Corporal William B. Moore
Private Henry Opperman
Private Samuel W. Peter
Private Evan F. Richmond
Private Ernst Russell
Private James Thornton
Private Henry M. Wilcox

50th Indiana Volunteer Infantry
Private John W. Browning
Second Lieutenant Daniel J. Dean
Private James R. Dougherty
Corporal Samuel H. Taylor

39th Iowa Volunteer Infantry
Corporal Jacob Koontz
Waggoner Dimmick Layton
Private Jonah Stearns

7th Wisconsin, 7th Battery Light Artillery
(Badger State Flying Artillery)

Second Lieutenant Samual Hays
Sergeant M.I. Marsden
Sergeant A. Wallwork

Archaeology at the Cemetery

An archaeological investigation conducted in November 1993 verified that this was the location where Union casualties were buried following the Battle of Parker's Crossroads. Two more excavations were conducted 1994.
Union Cemetery Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brandon Fletcher, October 8, 2010
2. Union Cemetery Marker
These limited investigations demonstrated conclusively that this was the original Union cemetery. Differences in soil color and texture allowed the archaeologists to identify the location of a number of burials. During the excavations the remains of one individual, mistakenly left behind when the others were relocated, were uncovered.
 
Erected by Parker's Crossroads Battlefield Association.
 
Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial SitesWar, US Civil. A significant historical month for this entry is April 1862.
 
Location. 35° 47.306′ N, 88° 23.163′ W. Marker is in Parkers Crossroads, Tennessee, in Henderson County. Memorial can be reached from Federal Lane, 0.2 miles east of Tennessee Route 22, on the right when traveling east. The marker is on the South Loop Walking Trail where the Artillery Trail extension splits off. This is at Stop 7 of the Parker's Crossroads Driving Tour. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Wildersville TN 38388, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. 50th Indiana Infantry Regiment (a few steps from this marker); Forrest's Artillery (within shouting distance of this marker); 18th Illinois Mounted Infantry (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Desperate Fighting (about 400 feet away); "The General Demands An Unconditional Surrender"
Union Cemetery Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brandon Fletcher, October 8, 2010
3. Union Cemetery Marker
Marker in Distance (yellow arrow)
(about 500 feet away); Casualties of War (about 500 feet away); 122nd Illinois Infantry Regiment (about 600 feet away); Freeman's Battery (about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Parkers Crossroads.
 
More about this marker. The stone monument marking the burial site was placed "on a knoll on the east end of the Union line."
 
Regarding Union Cemetery. The marker includes three photographs relating to archeology at the site. The photo at the lower right is captioned: "The late Steve Hardy, a longtime supporter of the Parker's Crossroads Battlefield preservation effort, holds a friction primer found with the remains that had not been relocated. Usually carried only by artillerists, the friction primer tentatively identifies this individual as belonging to the 7th Wisconsin, 7th Battery Light Artillery."
 
Additional keywords. Parker's Crossroads
 
Union Burial Site Monument image. Click for full size.
Photographed By David Graff, April 24, 2012
4. Union Burial Site Monument
Union Burial Site Monument image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Shane Oliver, April 3, 2021
5. Union Burial Site Monument
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on May 31, 2021. It was originally submitted on June 3, 2014, by David Graff of Halifax, Nova Scotia. This page has been viewed 526 times since then and 11 times this year. Last updated on August 22, 2015, by Brandon Fletcher of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Photos:   1. submitted on May 28, 2021, by Shane Oliver of Richmond, Virginia.   2, 3. submitted on August 22, 2015, by Brandon Fletcher of Chattanooga, Tennessee.   4. submitted on June 3, 2014, by David Graff of Halifax, Nova Scotia.   5. submitted on May 28, 2021, by Shane Oliver of Richmond, Virginia. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 19, 2024