Based on Lieutenant John Burnham’s letter describing in great detail the burial location of the 16th Connecticut’s dead on the Otto farm (see Part One), he buried the remains of 40 members of the regiment killed in action at Antietam. Burnham’s purpose in recording such a minute description of the locations of these graves was “in order that their friends may find their bodies if they wish.”
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16th Connecticut Monument in the 40-Acre Cornfield, dedicated in 1894.
(National Park Service) |
In the aftermath of the battle, scores of civilians descended upon Antietam—some drawn by curiosity to witness the devastation or collect souvenirs, others in search of the remains of loved ones to bring them home. Thanks to Burnham’s work, most of the 16th Connecticut’s dead were returned to their home state. The details provided in Burnham’s letter home and his minute recording of the grave locations of 40 of his comrades also provides us with a case study of the removal of remains from the Antietam battlefield to the hometowns of the fallen.
There are 4,776 United States soldiers from the Civil War buried in Antietam National Cemetery. Over 3,200 of those soldiers buried there died as a result of the Battle of Antietam. From the 16th Connecticut, 26 identified sets of remains rest in marked graves in the national cemetery. Incredibly, 26 of the remains buried and identified by John Burnham were removed from the battlefield at some point and reinterred to New England (25 to Connecticut cemeteries and one to a cemetery in Massachusetts).
While further studies of other regiments are needed to draw broader conclusions, this single case suggests that Burnham’s hope—that his diligence would enable friends and families to recover their loved ones—was realized. Through his effort, roughly half of the 16th Connecticut’s fallen were indeed brought home.
Below are two tables showing the 16th Connecticut’s dead as recorded by Burnham who were later reinterred. The first follows the same order as Burnham’s list; the second was copied from the online Antietam National Cemetery Directory. The entries in bold in the second table were also listed by Burnham in his September 19, 1862, letter.
Soldier | Company | Burial Location |
Jesse Barnes | E | Canton Memorial Monument, CT |
Charles W. Pease | A | Grove Hill Cemetery, CT |
Cornelius Wildman | A | Unknown, not in marked grave in Antietam National Cemetery |
Albert M. Hill | A | Old North Cemetery, CT |
Theodore E. Demars | A | Kelsey Cemetery, CT |
William Nichols | F | Zion Hill Cemetery, CT |
Horace Warner | D | Old Center Cemetery, CT |
Michael Grace | D | Old St. Patrick’s Cemetery, CT |
Nelson E. Snow | D | West Suffield Cemetery, CT |
Henry Barnett | D | Old Center Cemetery, CT (reinterred there in December 1863) |
George Allen | D | Old Center Cemetery, CT |
Orville Campbell | I | Fairview Cemetery, CT |
Thomas McCarty | I | Oak Grove Cemetery |
Augustus Truesdell | I | Westfield Cemetery, CT |
John F. Bingham | H | First Church Cemetery, CT |
William N. Cullumns | H | Unknown, not in marked grave in Antietam National Cemetery |
Wadsworth A. Washburn | G | Bridge Cemetery, CT |
Edward A. Parmele | G | Cedar Hill Cemetery, CT |
Solomon H. Allen | G | Melrose Cemetery, CT |
Elijah Munsell | G | Old Wapping Cemetery, CT |
Elliott Fleming | G | Melrose Cemetery, CT |
William A. North | G | Wilcox Cemetery, CT |
Seth F. Prior | B | Town Street Cemetery, CT |
Samuel Brown III | D | Monumental Cemetery, MA |
John L. Drake | I | Spring Grove Cemetery, CT |
William Horton | I | Stafford Street Cemetery, CT |
Grave | Name | Rank | Co | Unit/Branch | D.O.D. | Removed | Location |
1085 | Aldrich, Henry | Pvt | K | 16th CT Infantry | 09/17/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1140 | Bout, Dan'l | Pvt | D | 16th CT Infantry | 12/12/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1116 | Burr, F.W. | Pvt | G | 16th CT Infantry | 10/11/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1118 | Case, O.J. | Pvt | A | 16th CT Infantry | 10/22/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1105 | Cowan, Wm. | Pvt | E | 16th CT Infantry | 10/22/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1084 | Evans, H.D. | Cpl | I | 16th CT Infantry | 09/17/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1101 | Foster, P.H. | Pvt | B | 16th CT Infantry | 09/17/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1088 | Gladding, Timothy | Pvt | G | 16th CT Infantry | 09/17/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1082 | Greegin, James | Pvt | I | 16th CT Infantry | 09/17/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1093 | Grosvenor, J.A. | Pvt | B | 16th CT Infantry | 09/17/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1092 | Hamilton, Hancey | Pvt | B | 16th CT Infantry | 09/17/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1091 | Himes, James | Pvt | I | 16th CT Infantry | 09/25/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1081 | Himes, Stephen | Pvt | I | 16th CT Infantry | 09/17/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1104 | Hollister, B.J. | Pvt | H | 16th CT Infantry | 09/25/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1113 | Hunn, Horace | Pvt | B | 16th CT Infantry | 10/12/1862 | Frederick | CT Row 1 |
1087 | Kent, J.S. | Pvt | G | 16th CT Infantry | 09/17/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1100 | Lay, Horace | Pvt | I | 16th CT Infantry | 09/17/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1099 | Loveland, Jno. | Pvt | C | 16th CT Infantry | 11/18/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1080 | McGrath, James | Pvt | E | 16th CT Infantry | 09/17/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1102 | Morgan, R.P. | Pvt | E | 16th CT Infantry | 09/24/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1086 | Smith, Mich'l | Pvt | G | 16th CT Infantry | 09/17/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1083 | Twiss, J.E. | Pvt | I | 16th CT Infantry | 09/17/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1136 | Wardwell, Emerson | Pvt | G | 16th CT Infantry | 10/17/1862 | Frederick | CT Row 1 |
1124 | White, J.J. | Pvt | A | 16th CT Infantry | 02/13/1863 | | CT Row 1 |
1089 | Wilsey, J.C. | Pvt | H | 16th CT Infantry | 09/17/1862 | Antietam | CT Row 1 |
1108 | Wilson, O.M. | Pvt | G | 16th CT Infantry | 11/02/1862 | Weverton | CT Row 1 |
