Butler National Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois

My brother told us some of our family history. Of particular interest were three brothers of my great grandmother Sarah Butler. They had enlisted in the 26th Iowa Infantry Regiment, which mustered in Dubuque, (two enlisted at the start of the war and one toward the end at age fifteen). The 26th was a hard luck regiment, (ravaged by disease as three hundred died from disease for each one killed in battle,) at the battle of Vicksburg, they were on the northwest side of the city. They were posted in a swamp where mosquito borne disease ravaged them. One of them died on the way to a hospital in New Orleans and another died in the last Federal assault of Vicksburg on the Confederate lines. The remaining brother was allowed to enlist even though he was too young. He died in the second to last Battle of the War, (Malvern Hill), and was buried at Appomattox.

At the Cemetery, open but closed due to the shutdown, a worker told us how to tell the difference between Union and Confederate graves. The Union gravestones had rounded tops, and the Confederate had a triangular top with a point. Some of the graves, all of Illinois Regiments, who fought had their names engraved, but the other Union Graves were simply marked Unknown. The Illinois Regiments had shipped the bodies home with names after the Battle of Fort Donelson. The Iowa Regiments had been buried at Donelson were marked as Unknowns and were later disinterred before being reburied at the Butler National Cemetery. The Confederates had died in the prisoner of War Camp located on the south-west side. Not prepared for the cold winter they suffered terrible losses as pneumonia ravaged the camp, (although many did escape or were exchanged until a wooden wall was built to enclose them). The National Cemetery had graves from soldiers and sailors who died in all the Nations Wars. The Spanish American War. First and Second World War, Korea, and Vietnam were all marked with the servicemen’s names. Visiting the National Cemetery. There were so many graves. The Cemetery was a sobering experience. Later we talked of our plans for our own burials, (an important topic as we are in our seventies and eighties).