Tag: Confederate Cemetery

Confederate Cemetery – Resaca, Georgia

Confederate survivors of the Battle of Resaca; beaten, tired, and on the move, had no time to give proper burial to their brothers-in-arms.

A Nation At War

Fierce and Bloody Battles took place May 13 – 15, 1864 on the battlegrounds near the town of Resaca, Georgia. The Confederate survivors of the Battle of Resaca; beaten, tired, and on the move, had no time to give proper burial to their brothers-in-arms. Crudely dug shallow graves were not sufficient to cover the war dead. But those who had graves were the lucky ones. Most of the fallen soldiers had no burial what-so-ever. That is, until the Green family returned to their home in 1866.

Mary Jane Green Founds The Resaca Confederate Cemetery

Mary Jane Green was astonished by the site of half-buried soldiers in the battlefields of her hometown. By July of 1866, Mary Jane was raising money and finding land to give these soldiers a proper burial. Her father (Colonel John F. Green) donated 2.5 acres and Mary Jane began planning the cemetery layout.

By October 1866, all 450 burials in the cemetery were complete and a dedication occurred on the 25th of that month. Soldiers were buried according to their state of residence. Unknown soldiers were the majority and were buried around a central stone Cross.

Without a proper perimeter fence to protect the cemetery, the United Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy directed the construction of the stone wall surrounding the cemetery in 1925.

The Cove Cemetery – Confederate Cemetery – Chickamauga Georgia

Porter Cemetery was maintained by The Cove Methodist Church. It is now known as The Cove Cemetery.

The Cove CemeteryThe Civil War at Porter Cemetery

On September 17 & 18, 1863, a minor skirmish took place between Federal and Confederate soldiers near what was then known as Porter Cemetery. The brief battle involved a 4:00 AM raid by Union Horsemen.  Subsequent artillery fire, lobed by the Confederates, scattered Federal troops.

No war is ever humorous.  However, the accounts of this skirmish seem almost farcical even to the solder telling the story.  He recounts the onset of an attack that took place so quickly, the horsemen overshot their intended targets.  While the horsemen were captured in an instant, other soldiers sought cover in a field of high corn stalks.  Although this skirmish was mild compared to the larger war, it was not without casualties.  One Captain and several soldiers died in the battle.

With opposing factions each maintaining adjacent hilltop strongholds after the two day fight, all troops were called northward to take up arms in the Battle of Chickamauga which was fought September 18 – 20, 1863.

Cove Cemetery

Porter Cemetery Becomes Cove Cemetery

Porter Cemetery was maintained by The Cove Methodist Church. It is now known as Cove Cemetery. The Cove Cemetery contains the remains of many Civil War era soldiers who died on the battlefield.  

Civilians are buried here, too.  Most notable in the cemetery is the grave site of the Widow Glenn. This young woman’s husband, a Confederate Soldier, was killed in the line of battle. She lived on the battlefield near Porter Cemetery and her house was commandeered, for a time, by Federal Troops.

The Widow Glenn's Gravesite
The Widow Glenn

Cove Cemetery