one of our men still carried the name of his former enslaver and could be found only by his name and gender .
These 70 men , whom we affectionately called “ Our Guys ,” became individuals with names , wives , children , skills and scars . And for those who survived the war and applied for pensions , their own words come to us through pension depositions . Without birth certificates , marriage licenses or other documentation before they were soldiers , our soldiers ’ and their widows ’ pension applications were scrutinized by federal examiners , who traveled to where they lived to interview family members and friends to verify their identity . The files , some of which were 200 pages long , contain transcripts of those investigations , and the long-term physical and psychological effects of slavery became real — musculoskeletal problems due to heavy labor and the ongoing struggle to support a family through such physical discomfort .
I had not anticipated feeling such a strong connection to these men , sometimes searching Ancestry and Find A Grave late into the night . For those men who survived the war , I hoped to find them married and safe in the 1870 U . S . Census . Many did show up , but many also disappeared . They may have enlisted under a false name if they were runaways and later lived in freedom under another name . They may have simply shed names given to them in bondage . They may have died through disease , through labor , or through violence that many African Americans experienced during the Jim Crow Era . I worried for them . I still worry for them .
For all “ Our Guys ” I hoped to find gravestones . I wanted to see physical proof that they received some recognition and care in how they were laid to rest . I wanted to know that they are safe now . Of course even if a soldier died in a regimental hospital during the war , there is no guarantee we could find his grave . Some USCT were buried in plots that would become national cemeteries after the war . However , many Black soldiers ’ resting places went undocumented . Sometimes a general unmarked location was provided . Private James Monroe , for instance , enlisted in Grafton , West Virginia , and served with the 45th USCT Infantry , Company G . He died from smallpox on Feb . 2 , 1865 , at Union Hospital at Bermuda Hundred , Virginia , a hospital where Clara Barton was superintendent of nurses . Military records state that Monroe was buried between Bermuda Hundred and Jones Landing ( on the James River in Virginia ), “ south of the road .”
A quick Google Search produced a Civil War-era photograph of Jones Landing taken by Mathew Brady and catalogued at the National Archives . The boat landing is rural and remote . A fenced wooden shed is positioned on the riverbank with soldiers sitting on a fence railing facing the camera . I wonder if Private Monroe still rests there . Or if his remains were disturbed
Photo by Sarah Plummer
Granville Taitt ’ s headstone stands at the Chattanooga National Cemetery . It reads “ Grandville Tait ” but all other military records , including death records , show his name spelled “ Granville Taitt .”
as the area became urban . Was he moved to an unmarked grave when the road was constructed ? Did anyone suspect he was one of our nation ’ s soldiers ?
In December I visited one of our soldiers ’ graves at the National Cemetery in Chattanooga . Granville Taitt was about 18 when he enlisted in Fulton , Missouri , with his brother , Josiah Taitt , who was a year older . They served together in the 18th USCT Infantry , Company H , and fought together at the Battle of Tennessee . And despite dying only five months apart from pneumonia , they aren ’ t buried together . There is no record of where Josiah was laid to rest . Granville has a national headstone in Chattanooga .
The headstones at the national cemetery are all alike and display only a name and number . And so when I visited Private
Taitt , I mourned for the many soldiers who have served our country and are laid to rest in foreign lands or in unmarked graves . I mourned for the young USCT soldiers from Franklin County , Virginia , who had no opportunities while in bondage and few opportunities in freedom .
One document shows Granville penned an “ X ” next to where someone else wrote his name on Dec . 29 , 1864 . This mark acknowledged that he collected his brother ’ s clothing when he died , and it is the only tangible , written link proving that Granville and Josiah were brothers . So I mourn Granville , who was only 18 . Who outlived his brother . Whose first and last name are misspelled on his headstone . Who is buried with the appearance of honor but without family .
I mourn for “ Our Guys .” ❖
SOUTH � WINTER ’ 25 � 21