by Thomas Zei
The burials of Call and Lesueur does bring up another mystery to explore. It involves how their names were etched into the granite memorials at The Confederate Circle in Evergreen Cemetery in Murfreesboro.
In the article of the Confederate Cemetery, it was discussed how Captain Ed Arnold and the women of Murfreesboro took it upon themselves in 1867 to create a suitable resting place for the Confederate dead, similar to what was accomplished for the Union dead at Stones River National Cemetery. After moving many graves from the battlefield, most unknown, their efforts ran into financial problems without completely their full mission. The cemetery soon became unkempt and in disarray.
By 1881, many of the wooden planks used to mark graves were either rotten or washed away by the flooding from nearby Lytle Creek. A reporter for the Murfreesboro Free Press went through the cemetery and wrote down the names and units from the remaining planks. The list in the newspaper showed 156 names out of the 1800-2000 graves.
Eventually, all of the graves are moved to a single mass grave in Murfreesboro’s Evergreen Cemetery. The spot becomes known as The Confederate Circle and is marked with a monument. In 1982, granite tablets were added etched with the 156 names shown in the 1881 article.
In the first part of the story of Call and Lesneur, it was noted that both had their names etched into the Confederate Circle memorial. But this creates a mystery. We know that both A J Call and M C Lesneur were buried in Stones River National Cemetery in 1865, most likely by mistake.
But we also know that the reporter in 1881 found wooden planks with their names over graves at the Confederate Cemetery. This means that Captain Arnold thought he was able to identify two bodies as belonging to Call and Lesneur. Considering he buried many bodies with no known name, he felt confident enough to add their names to the graves. Lesneur’s grave would be found at the Union College graveyard connected to the temporary hospital there while Call’s grave was in the cemetery used by the general hospital.
If their bodies were moved to the national cemetery two years before Arnold’s efforts, what remained in the graves when Arnold and the women of the town arrived there to move the deceased to the Confederate Cemetery?
Unfortunately, we may never know what actually occurred with the bodies of Andrew Jackson Call and McPherson Lesueur. They are rightly recognized in the Confederate Circle monument but we will never know whether their bodies are included in the mass grave. It is more likely that they are buried with the Union soldiers at the Stones River National Cemetery.
The burials of Call and Lesueur does bring up another mystery to explore. It involves how their names were etched into the granite memorials at The Confederate Circle in Evergreen Cemetery in Murfreesboro.
In the article of the Confederate Cemetery, it was discussed how Captain Ed Arnold and the women of Murfreesboro took it upon themselves in 1867 to create a suitable resting place for the Confederate dead, similar to what was accomplished for the Union dead at Stones River National Cemetery. After moving many graves from the battlefield, most unknown, their efforts ran into financial problems without completely their full mission. The cemetery soon became unkempt and in disarray.
By 1881, many of the wooden planks used to mark graves were either rotten or washed away by the flooding from nearby Lytle Creek. A reporter for the Murfreesboro Free Press went through the cemetery and wrote down the names and units from the remaining planks. The list in the newspaper showed 156 names out of the 1800-2000 graves.
Eventually, all of the graves are moved to a single mass grave in Murfreesboro’s Evergreen Cemetery. The spot becomes known as The Confederate Circle and is marked with a monument. In 1982, granite tablets were added etched with the 156 names shown in the 1881 article.
In the first part of the story of Call and Lesneur, it was noted that both had their names etched into the Confederate Circle memorial. But this creates a mystery. We know that both A J Call and M C Lesneur were buried in Stones River National Cemetery in 1865, most likely by mistake.
But we also know that the reporter in 1881 found wooden planks with their names over graves at the Confederate Cemetery. This means that Captain Arnold thought he was able to identify two bodies as belonging to Call and Lesneur. Considering he buried many bodies with no known name, he felt confident enough to add their names to the graves. Lesneur’s grave would be found at the Union College graveyard connected to the temporary hospital there while Call’s grave was in the cemetery used by the general hospital.
If their bodies were moved to the national cemetery two years before Arnold’s efforts, what remained in the graves when Arnold and the women of the town arrived there to move the deceased to the Confederate Cemetery?
Unfortunately, we may never know what actually occurred with the bodies of Andrew Jackson Call and McPherson Lesueur. They are rightly recognized in the Confederate Circle monument but we will never know whether their bodies are included in the mass grave. It is more likely that they are buried with the Union soldiers at the Stones River National Cemetery.