The Gettysburg Confederate Casualties?

[14tokihorn]

Don't know where else to post this, so-

How did the Confederates handle their dead? This is rather a macabre bit of Civil War history, but, just wondering. Since the Rebs retreated after-wards, and, as far my take from the TV documentaries, even the Union dead were left where they lay... at least for some time. Obviously, Lees' army was quite a bit distance from Dixie.

Was it the practice, back then, that military rank dictated how/if the remains were attended to (my best guess)? Was it the practice that family members attended to their soldier/relatives?

Then again, from the InterWeb, there is a present day formal Gettysburg cemetery, but apparently, for Union soldiers, no mention of the Rebs.... And I'm sure there were numerous "Unknowns" from both armies

Reason for asking, someday I'm going to trace that Confederate relative who died at Gettysburg.

 

[bierce]

For details, try Coco.

The Link

In short, Confederate dead were generally unceremoniously buried together, but an effort to recover the bodies led to many remains being shipped south in 1872.

The Link

 

[Wild Bill]

Good links, bierce. That was one horrible battle. The number of dead and wounded on both sides was just staggering.

 

[gecko]

Didn't they find a couple of previously undiscovered soldiers at Gettysburg a couple of years ago...? They were in a culvert at the edge of the battlefield and the speculation was they were outside of the area that was previously swept retrieving the dead.

History is cool stuff.

 

[Crockett]

I've done a lot of reading about Gettysburg, but not like an historian looking for precise information.

Good luck with your hunt. I remember reading that Union Commander George Meade withdrew without having his soldiers bury the dead because of the effect such duty would have on morale. Civilian contractors were brought in to clear the battlefields. According to the book Lincoln at Gettysburg (trusting my memory 15 years after reading the book) the reason the ceremony took place in November after early July battle was that it took that long to clear the stench of decaying human and horse flesh from the battlefield.

I guess you are fortunate that the Gettysburg Battlefield is so well documented and preserved by the National Parks Service. Be sure to use research and researchers they make available. By the way, as an aside, I understand that one of the reasons the battlefield is so well preserved and documented is one Gen. Dan Sickles, not exactly the Union hero. He neptly put his men up for slaughter in the Wheatfield and Peach Orchard, but shown through with bravery, cooly smoking a cigar after his leg was blown off by Confederate cannon. As a postwar politico, he worked very hard to preserve the battlefield and tried to garner a little credit for the victory because so many Confederates were killed while attacking his vulnerable but hard-fighting troops.

Use the web as well. Civil war commanders on both sides extensively documented troop placements, order of battle, etc. and a lot of great first hand information can be had with a little help from Google.

 

[THEU]

'too many on both sides, I am afraid."

- Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee in Gettysburg.