By Thomas Zei
[Note: Thanks to Volunteer Jim Bosse for the idea for this story]
In the article on The Mystery Under Dr. Burrus’ Cabin, it was discussed how a single grave in the Stones River National Cemetery ended up containing Confederate soldiers. This mass grave of eleven bodies has either eight or all eleven Confederate unknown soldiers identified only by the uniform buttons found with the tangled remains of the inhabitants found in the single grave on the property of Doctor Burris in the 1880’s.
But if one grave contained Confederate dead, is it possible that there are other graves in the national cemetery that has remains of the rebel forces? A search of the cemetery burial records found three likely candidates.
James Hopkins in grave C-1224 was identified in the cemetery’s records as being from Mississippi, a likely source of a Confederate soldier. Further research, though, found that James L Hopkins was a member of the Missouri 42nd Infantry Regiment. He died in Tullahoma on February 25, 1865 of the measles while protecting the railroad line in the town.
[Note: Thanks to Volunteer Jim Bosse for the idea for this story]
In the article on The Mystery Under Dr. Burrus’ Cabin, it was discussed how a single grave in the Stones River National Cemetery ended up containing Confederate soldiers. This mass grave of eleven bodies has either eight or all eleven Confederate unknown soldiers identified only by the uniform buttons found with the tangled remains of the inhabitants found in the single grave on the property of Doctor Burris in the 1880’s.
But if one grave contained Confederate dead, is it possible that there are other graves in the national cemetery that has remains of the rebel forces? A search of the cemetery burial records found three likely candidates.
James Hopkins in grave C-1224 was identified in the cemetery’s records as being from Mississippi, a likely source of a Confederate soldier. Further research, though, found that James L Hopkins was a member of the Missouri 42nd Infantry Regiment. He died in Tullahoma on February 25, 1865 of the measles while protecting the railroad line in the town.

There are two other graves that had possibilities. A. J. Call is buried in grave E-2011. He is listed in the historical documents as a member of the Tennessee 44th Regiment with a date of death of March 22, 1863. But there is a clue right away that there is a problem with this information. Although Tennessee provided soldiers to both armies, the Union Tennessee forces only had low regiment numbers. Only the Confederates had a 44th Infantry Regiment.
Research on A. J. Call found that his full name was Andrew Jackson Call. He was born on June 15, 1834 in Coffee County, Tennessee. In 1860, he was a resident of the Prairie Plains community. He was a farmer and married his wife Sarah in 1857 and by 1861 had two sons. He mustered into the 44th Regiment and placed in Company K. The regiment suffered very heavy casualties at Shiloh. It later fought at Perryville, KY before the fight at Murfreesboro. Some records show Call as a corporal while some had him listed as a sergeant.
What happened at Murfreesboro to Call is unknown. It was assigned to Brig. Gen. Bushrod Johnson under Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne. At the battle, Johnson’s forces were forced to fill the gap in the Confederate lines during the initial assault on the Union Right Flank. This fight continued all the way through the morning hours of the battle.
The first thought is that Call was wounded and he was evacuated to a hospital somewhere in Murfreesboro. But his name is not shown in the brigade’s lengthy list of casualties during the fight. It is then very likely that Call was already hospitalized prior to the battle from either disease or wounds. When the Confederates withdrew from the town in early January, Call must have remained in the hospital and fell into Union hands for his medical care.
The time between the Confederate withdrawal from Murfreesboro and Call’s death was almost three months. The question that arises is why he was still in Murfreesboro? He wasn’t moved with the Confederate forces so he must have had severe wounds or was very ill. Once the Murfreesboro hospital was taken over by the Union doctors, there are no known documents listing him as a prisoner of war during this time. Even though the Confederates were nearby as well as his home in Coffee County thirty miles away, there apparently was no attempt to return him to his family.
There is a remote possibility that the reason why Call was not returned to his family is that he was providing useful information to the Union forces as they prepared for the upcoming Tullahoma Campaign. There is documentation that some residents of the Prairie Plains community were Union sympathizers and never supported the Confederate cause. Could Call abandon the Southern cause after his involvement in horrible fights that included a large number of casualties in his regiment?
After Call’s death, records show he was buried in Murfreesboro. The graves around his in the national cemetery show that they too were in the hospital in town when they died which indicates the same fate happened to Call. If so, it is likely he was buried in the graveyard at the hospital or the city cemetery after his death.
But how did he end up at the national cemetery instead of ultimately being reburied at the Confederate cemetery and then Confederate Circle at Evergreen Cemetery? The hospital’s standard procedure would be a quick burial in the graveyard. When the 111th USCT soldiers were tasked to retrieve the Union dead from the cemeteries in Murfreesboro, it is likely that Andrew Call’s body was mistakenly picked up with the other Union bodies. More importantly, nobody noticed that the body was from a unit that wasn’t part of the Union Army. If the theory holds that he was supporting the Union’s information gathering, could that be a factor why a Confederate was buried in the Union cemetery?
Of note, the Confederate Circle memorial has a short list of known Confederates buried in the mass grave at Evergreen Cemetery. On that list is A J Call.
Research on A. J. Call found that his full name was Andrew Jackson Call. He was born on June 15, 1834 in Coffee County, Tennessee. In 1860, he was a resident of the Prairie Plains community. He was a farmer and married his wife Sarah in 1857 and by 1861 had two sons. He mustered into the 44th Regiment and placed in Company K. The regiment suffered very heavy casualties at Shiloh. It later fought at Perryville, KY before the fight at Murfreesboro. Some records show Call as a corporal while some had him listed as a sergeant.
What happened at Murfreesboro to Call is unknown. It was assigned to Brig. Gen. Bushrod Johnson under Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne. At the battle, Johnson’s forces were forced to fill the gap in the Confederate lines during the initial assault on the Union Right Flank. This fight continued all the way through the morning hours of the battle.
The first thought is that Call was wounded and he was evacuated to a hospital somewhere in Murfreesboro. But his name is not shown in the brigade’s lengthy list of casualties during the fight. It is then very likely that Call was already hospitalized prior to the battle from either disease or wounds. When the Confederates withdrew from the town in early January, Call must have remained in the hospital and fell into Union hands for his medical care.
The time between the Confederate withdrawal from Murfreesboro and Call’s death was almost three months. The question that arises is why he was still in Murfreesboro? He wasn’t moved with the Confederate forces so he must have had severe wounds or was very ill. Once the Murfreesboro hospital was taken over by the Union doctors, there are no known documents listing him as a prisoner of war during this time. Even though the Confederates were nearby as well as his home in Coffee County thirty miles away, there apparently was no attempt to return him to his family.
There is a remote possibility that the reason why Call was not returned to his family is that he was providing useful information to the Union forces as they prepared for the upcoming Tullahoma Campaign. There is documentation that some residents of the Prairie Plains community were Union sympathizers and never supported the Confederate cause. Could Call abandon the Southern cause after his involvement in horrible fights that included a large number of casualties in his regiment?
After Call’s death, records show he was buried in Murfreesboro. The graves around his in the national cemetery show that they too were in the hospital in town when they died which indicates the same fate happened to Call. If so, it is likely he was buried in the graveyard at the hospital or the city cemetery after his death.
But how did he end up at the national cemetery instead of ultimately being reburied at the Confederate cemetery and then Confederate Circle at Evergreen Cemetery? The hospital’s standard procedure would be a quick burial in the graveyard. When the 111th USCT soldiers were tasked to retrieve the Union dead from the cemeteries in Murfreesboro, it is likely that Andrew Call’s body was mistakenly picked up with the other Union bodies. More importantly, nobody noticed that the body was from a unit that wasn’t part of the Union Army. If the theory holds that he was supporting the Union’s information gathering, could that be a factor why a Confederate was buried in the Union cemetery?
Of note, the Confederate Circle memorial has a short list of known Confederates buried in the mass grave at Evergreen Cemetery. On that list is A J Call.

The third possible Confederate grave per the Park’s records is in Grave F-2451. The burial record lists the grave is for M. C. Lesneur who died on August 19, 1863 in Murfreesboro. The record states he is a civilian from Georgia. But looking at the historical records shows that the person buried in Grave F-2451 was far from a civilian.
All information points to M. C. Lesneur being McPherson C. Lesueur (or possibly Le Sueur). He was born in Pike County, Georgia about 1844. He was a member of Company C of the Caswell Georgia Sharpshooters. His burial record shows him in Company C, Caswell, GA. It is possible the record keeper was confused by the entry and assumed the C meant a civilian from Georgia.
The Caswell’s 4th Georgia Sharpshooter Battalion was split off from Caswell’s 3rd Georgia Sharpshooter Battalion and assigned to General Bates in Middle Tennessee. Bates commanded the troops positioned near Hoover’s Gap southeast of Murfreesboro. The Battle of Hoover’s Gap proved to be a pivotal point in The Tullahoma Campaign as the Union split the Confederate’s line of defense.
Prisoner of war reports show that M. C. Lesneur of the Caswell’s Sharpshooters was imprisoned on June 25, 1863 at Hoover’s Gap. He was taken to the General Hospital in Murfreesboro with a gunshot wound to the thigh. The final POW report shows Lesneur died almost two months later on August 19, 1863. The record shows he was buried in the Union College’s (which was used as a hospital) graveyard.
One more footnote in Lesueur’s story. Just like A J Call, one of the names listed is N (sic) C Lesneur. All indications are that this soldier was not buried in the mass grave at the circle but his name is remembered with his comrades.
It is again likely that Lesueur’s grave was mixed in with the Union dead and mistakenly swept up by the USCT 111th Regiment in the movement of bodies to Stones River National Cemetery. Whether the confusion of Lesueur being a civilian from Georgia led to him being treated as a Union supporter or whether it was just a mistake among the thousands of bodies being moved, we will never know for sure.
From all indications, Call and Lesueur are really Confederate soldiers buried in the national cemetery in their own single marked grave. Whether by mistake or on purpose, they are cared for the same as all the other graves by the National Park Service.
If you are aware of any other Confederate soldiers buried in Stones River National Battlefield, please let us know at [email protected]
All information points to M. C. Lesneur being McPherson C. Lesueur (or possibly Le Sueur). He was born in Pike County, Georgia about 1844. He was a member of Company C of the Caswell Georgia Sharpshooters. His burial record shows him in Company C, Caswell, GA. It is possible the record keeper was confused by the entry and assumed the C meant a civilian from Georgia.
The Caswell’s 4th Georgia Sharpshooter Battalion was split off from Caswell’s 3rd Georgia Sharpshooter Battalion and assigned to General Bates in Middle Tennessee. Bates commanded the troops positioned near Hoover’s Gap southeast of Murfreesboro. The Battle of Hoover’s Gap proved to be a pivotal point in The Tullahoma Campaign as the Union split the Confederate’s line of defense.
Prisoner of war reports show that M. C. Lesneur of the Caswell’s Sharpshooters was imprisoned on June 25, 1863 at Hoover’s Gap. He was taken to the General Hospital in Murfreesboro with a gunshot wound to the thigh. The final POW report shows Lesneur died almost two months later on August 19, 1863. The record shows he was buried in the Union College’s (which was used as a hospital) graveyard.
One more footnote in Lesueur’s story. Just like A J Call, one of the names listed is N (sic) C Lesneur. All indications are that this soldier was not buried in the mass grave at the circle but his name is remembered with his comrades.
It is again likely that Lesueur’s grave was mixed in with the Union dead and mistakenly swept up by the USCT 111th Regiment in the movement of bodies to Stones River National Cemetery. Whether the confusion of Lesueur being a civilian from Georgia led to him being treated as a Union supporter or whether it was just a mistake among the thousands of bodies being moved, we will never know for sure.
From all indications, Call and Lesueur are really Confederate soldiers buried in the national cemetery in their own single marked grave. Whether by mistake or on purpose, they are cared for the same as all the other graves by the National Park Service.
If you are aware of any other Confederate soldiers buried in Stones River National Battlefield, please let us know at [email protected]