ROLL OF HONOR NO. XVIII
GENERAL ORDERS}
QUARTERMASTER GENERAL'S OFFICE
NO 24
}
Washington, D. C., June 19, 1869.
The following volume (the XVIIIth) of Rolls of Honor, prepared in the
cemeterial branch of this office, under the direction of Brevet Brigadier
General Alexander J. Perry, Quartermaster United States Army, and containing
alphabetical lists of names of deceased United Sate Soldiers interred in the
national cemeteries at Fort Harrison, Virginia; Wilmington and Raleigh, North
Carolina; Port Hudson, Louisiana; Brownsville, San Antonio, and Galveston,
Texas; Little Rock, Fayetteville, and Fort Smith, Arkansas; Indianapolis,
Indiana; Mound City, Illinois; Cincinnati, Ohio; Springfield, Missouri; and
Forts Scott and Leavenworth, Kansas, and in many of the local cemeteries, and at
military posts, in the States of Texas, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio. Michigan,
Wisconsin, Iowa, and Kansas, is published by authority of the Secretary of War
for the information of their surviving comrades and friends.
Preface
Quartermaster General's Office
Washington, D.C. June 9, 1868
GENERAL: I. I have the honor to submit herewith for
publication the record of interments of 22,900 deceased Union soldiers at the
following national cemeteries, viz: Fort Harrison, Virginia; Wilmington, and
Raleigh, North Carolina; Port Hudson, Louisiana; Brownsville, San Antonio and
Galveston, Texas; Little Rock, Fayetteville, and Fort smith, Arkansas;
Indianapolis, Indiana; Mound City, Illinois; Cincinnati, Ohio; Springfield,
Missouri; and Forts Scott and Leavenworth, Kansas, together with those at many
of the local cemeteries and military posts in the States of Texas, Indiana,
Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Kansas; and also brief histories
and descriptions of most of the cemeteries; the whole constituting the XVIIIth
volume of the Rolls of Honor.
II. Of the 22, 900 graves enumerated in this volume, the names of the
occupants of 11,370 are known, and those of 11,530 unknown.
This proportion, about one-half known, being considerably less than the usual
proportion of two-thirds known, which generally holds good throughout the
country.
The comparatively small proportion of known graves in this volume is owing to
the fact that out of 3,600 soldiers interred at Port Hudson, Louisiana, the
names of only 393, or less than one-ninth, are known; that of the 813 interred
at Fort Harrison, Virginia, only 236, or about one-fourth, are known; that of
the 2,059 at Wilmington, North Carolina, only 699, or about one-third are known;
and that of the 3,095 at Mound City, Illinois, only 1,160 or about one-third are
known.
The reason why so small a portion of the graves at these places could be
identified must be looked for in the fact that many bodies were hurriedly
interred in isolated spots, with only temporary marks, or with none at all; that
these burials were mostly made at a very early period of the war; and that the
ground was often in the hands of the enemy for a considerable period after the
action; when, if course, it could not be expected that any permanent marks of
identity would be established.
III. This volume increase the total number of graves now recorded in
printed form to about 193,000. Of the occupants of these graves the names
of about 120,000 appear as known, leaving (of those already printed) about
73,000 as yet unknown.
It is desirable that all persons who may have in their possession records by
which any of the graves of these 73,000 unknown soldiers might be recognized,
should know that it is the wish of this department to recover and make use of
all such means of identification; and that any communications on this subject
may be forwarded to the Quartermaster General at Washington, free of postage,
and that when they are received there, immediate steps will be taken to
establish the identity of the remains, and to have it recorded in printed form.
IV. It is supposed that there yet remain to be printed the records of
about 112,000 graves of deceased Union soldiers and prisoners of war, making an
aggregate of 305,000 graves, of the occupants of which the names of about
100,000, will not at present, if ever, be recovered.
V. I would respectfully refer to my letter of May 27, 1868,
accompanying the XVIth volume of the Rolls of Honor, for the view there
expressed as to the very large numbers of errors in the spelling of names, date,
company, &c., which must unavoidably occur in these rolls as at present printed,
and as to the desirableness of reprinting them in a revised form hereafter,
under careful supervision.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant.
CHAS, W. FOLSOM
Brevet Col. and Assistant Quartermaster, U.S. Volunteer,
Brevet Brigadier General Alex. J. Perry,
Quartermaster United States Army, Washington, D. C.
NATIONAL CEMETERY, LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
This cemetery is situated about one and a half miles southeast of the city of
Little Rock, Arkansas, and contains a little over nine acres of ground, formerly
the property of the city, but now of the United States.
The cemetery is a parellelogram, and is laid off in square lots, intersected
by walks and avenues. It is situated on high rolling ground; the
surroundings are very picturesque, and it is inclosed by a wooden fence in good
order.
To this cemetery were removed all the bodies of deceased Union soldiers found
in the vicinity of Little Rock, and on the banks of the Arkansas River, and
those originally interred at Pine Bluff and Duvall's Bluff National Cemeteries.
The graves are properly arranged and provided with suitable head-boards. A
superintendent has been appointed to take charge of this cemetery, and a lodge
for his accommodation has been erected.
The number of bodies of deceased Union soldiers interred in this cemetery are
as follows; Number known, 3,049, number unknown, 2,148; total, 5,197.
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