LONG LOST BURIAL SITE FOUND!
The burial site of dozens of Confederate Soldiers has finally been found after years of
searching. Most of these soldiers were from the 5th Kentucky Infantry but soldiers from
other Kentucky and Virginia regiments are also buried in the old cemetery.
The
cemetery is in the old, neglected portion of the Sandlick Cemetery located in the west
section of Whitesburg in Letcher County, Kentucky.
The Colonel Benjamin Caudill Camp No. 1629 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans has
searched for the burial site for several years. Several records such as Edward Guerrant’s
Diary, George Mosgrove’s book, and General Humphrey Marshall’s Adjutant General
Reports all made mention of the death and treatment of Confederate soldiers in a hospital
in Whitesburg. Official Records of the 5th Kentucky Infantry named at least ten soldiers
that had died in Whitesburg and recorded the dates of their deaths. General Marshall’s
reports stated that several men of the 21st , 54th and 29th Virginia Infantry and the 1st
Kentucky Mounted Battalion had died there as well. It has been thought that several
soldiers from other regiments that were stationed in and around Whitesburg as well as
ones that traveled through the town on the way to Virginia through Pound Gap were
treated, cared for and died in the small town.
The hospital was reported to have been located in a bottom where the Sandlick Creek
emptied into the North Fork of the Kentucky River. John A. Caudill, father of Colonel
Benjamin Caudill, owned this bottom. The huge bottom was also used as a camp ground
and training facility for Confederate troops stationed in the area. The location of the old
Sandlick Cemetery is approximately one thousand feet north east of the mouth of
Sandlick Creek. This old cemetery was on land owned by John Caudill and is also the
location of his grave as well. This portion of the cemetery had been badly neglected and
was impenetrable due to trees, briars and underbrush. Most members of the Letcher
County Historical Society believed that this site was the location of the forgotten
Confederate burial ground. The Caudill Camp appealed to the public for additional
information and was approached by an elderly lady that had been born and raised in the
area. She stated that as a young girl, she had been told that the overgrown section of the
cemetery contained the burial site of “Rebel” soldiers.
Not long after this
correspondence, a great- great grandson of John A. Caudill repeated the same tale.
Armed with this information, several members of the Caudill Camp braved cold and wet
weather on Saturday, January 7th to begin clearing the thicket surrounding and covering
the old cemetery. As tons of brush and briars were removed from the area, several old
tombstones and rock markers began to appear. Several of the graves were in rows that
appeared to be in a military style order. On the north edge of the clearing was the grave
of Lieutenant James Fitzpatrick, on the west side was the grave of Private Joseph E.
Cornett, and to the south was the grave of Private Stephen Caudill, all of the 13th
Kentucky Cavalry. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the tombstones and rocks did not
contain names or dates on them. It is presumed that these unmarked graves are the final
resting place of dozens of unknown Confederate heroes.
On Saturday, January 28th, several members and their family returned to the cemetery to
continue cleaning and searching the area. With most of the cemetery now cleaned, all
clues provided by tombstones and other information previously obtained convinced the
Caudill Camp that this was indeed the long searched for resting place of the forgotten
Confederate soldiers. Immediately, Faron Sparkman of the Caudill Camp began the
process of applying for tombstones for the ten soldiers known to have been buried there.
The Caudill Camp has contacted the Wise County Historical Society and asked for their
assistance in obtaining the names of the soldiers from Virginia that are suppose to be
buried in the Sandlick Cemetery. Hopefully further research will provide the names of
more of the Confederate soldiers buried in the reclaimed cemetery.
The Caudill Camp designed a memorial stone to place at the location of these southern
heroes, honoring both known and unknown soldiers. The stone was placed at the
cemetery on July 20th and provides information about the nearby Confederate hospital
that provided care for the unfortunate soldiers so many years ago. Enterprise Coal
Company, Hall Equipment, Jerry Wells and local citizens donated enough money to have
the monument built. Appalachian Monument of Letcher County built the monument,
charging little overhead. A granite bench, a stone with an engraving of a Confederate
soldier’s prayer and a flagpole were also placed at the site. Hopefully the combination of
Confederate tombstones and monument will prevent the story of these long forgotten
soldiers from being lost again. Eventually, the camp hopes to raise enough money to
place “Unknown Soldier” tombstones for the soldiers that remain unknown.
If anyone is interested in finding out more about the cemetery or has additional
information, please contact Richard Brown at brown58@bellsouth.net or contact him at
606-633-0475. Updates of information on this story will be posted on the Caudill
Camp’s website at www.bencaudill.com.