More Than Just A Stone

More Than Just A Stone. . , In April 1865, the guns fell silent and the War of the Rebellion came to a close. The pain and suffering did not end, especially for the families of the loved ones who had perished. The search for their final resting place continues even today. Local citizens made every attempt to identify the hundreds of bodies as they were removed from the local farms and alongside roadways. A scrap of paper or initials on clothing gave scant clues. All information was carefully recorded for this final resting place for the "Unknown" and gave hope to their families and descendants that their memory was not forgotten., Time has given clues to whom some of them may be. A case in point is the young Albert Peel. Adjutant Peel's body was buried beside his Colonel, the gallant T. J. Hardin, who was also killed in battle. A letter from his brother revealed, "Two or three years after the close of the war those noble women of Spotsylvania wrote to me that the graves of Col. Hardin and Adjutant Peel had been found and the remains removed to the Confederate Cemetery. God bless those noble Southern women, and the grand old State of Virginia, and her ever-loyal people! Four years spent with them during the war has endeared them to me forever"., Colonel Hardin's grave is clearly marked, but there is no marked stone for Albert Peel. There are others as well. "Likenesses" made for the family as keepsakes of the time were their only solace. We share with you some of these forgotten faces, their bodies never identified.