Unknown soldier of the Confederacy laid to rest in far North
DURHAM, Maine -- Though the final battles of the Civil War put untold numbers of Confederate soldiers in caskets marked "Durham" for several towns by that name, only one ended up here in Durham, Maine.
That one most likely missed the soldier’s Durham, N.C., home in a shipping mix-up, only to arrive here unidentified on the doorstep of a bewildered local family. Although no one ever learned his name, the town this weekend ensured that his role -- as an American soldier and son of the Confederacy -- would never be forgotten.
To the tune of "Dixie," dozens of Civil War re-enactors in blue and gray dedicated a freshly engraved tombstone Saturday on the site where townspeople buried the unknown Confederate more than 130 years ago. For participants, it was a fitting, if belated, tribute.
"By some terrible twist of fate, this soldier of the South was sent here, never to see his homeland again," said Hall Hoffner, Confederate chaplain at the ceremony. "For a long time, no one cared. But we care. "He died a Confederate soldier. But here lies an American soldier."
How he came to lie in this farming town of 3,300, seven miles northwest of the headquarters of the L.L. Bean mail-order business, is a mystery. Local historian Stevens Bunker figures a Maine family sent for one of their own and received the wrong casket. Perhaps, he said, a family in Durham, N.C., received the body of a Union soldier from Durham, Maine. But because the town’s burial records burned 100 years ago, even the most dedicated sleuths find themselves at a loss.
What is certain, however, is that Mainers have honored his Confederate roots with increased attention in recent years. For decades, veterans groups put only an American flag on the unmarked gravesite once a year. But for the past six years, Memorial Day has brought out Confederate flags and a rendition of "Dixie" on the fife. Now the new headstone features a cross and reads like many scattered across the South: "UNKNOWN, C.S.A.," for Confederate States of America.
In a region where Confederate symbols are more controversial than popular, surging interest in the unknown’s heritage begs an explanation. It wasn’t immediately obvious, for instance, why Kathy Gowen drove an hour with her daughter to play the part of the unknown Confederate’s widow at the occasion. But she had a reason, one that others echoed throughout the day.
"He fought for a cause," Gowen said. "He deserves the same accolades of any soldier who we’d bury today."
Accolades he got. The presence of local selectmen, a state legislator and honor guards from as far away as Mississippi made the grave dedication Durham's social event of the season. And the 200-plus who turned out for it tasted a proportional helping of pageantry.
Uniformed Confederate re-enactors led a processional march down U.S. 9 from Durham Elementary School to Strout Cemetery. Then came Union soldiers, drummers and flute players, women and children decked out in period attire. Had it not been for the leafless tree limbs and patches of melting snow among the graves, a passer-by could have thought he was in 1865 North Carolina.
"This is one of the few times in the North where we’re really able to showcase our Confederate heritage and what it means to be Southern," said Syndi Holmes, a Portland resident who counts five Virginia Confederates among her ancestors. "It’s nice to be able to do it without a lot of issues surrounding it."
The liturgical service first honored Maine volunteers whose donations brought the headstone from idea to reality. Later, Hoffner preached a sermon, all said the Lord’s Prayer and the 15th Alabama Honor Guard re-enactors fired a salute. Someone played "Taps" on a bugle, and everyone sang the first three verses of "Nearer My God to Thee." Then they adjourned to a reception at the Congregational church in the center of town.
The gravesite, meanwhile, has not seen the end of its ornamentation. Collector Darrell English of Charlemont, Mass., blocked the illegal auction of a stolen Confederate grave marker in 1998 and later acquired it from police in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. As soon as it can be permanently secured, it will adorn the gravesite in Durham, Maine.
"It seems right that a marker taken from an unknown grave would come to mark the grave of an unknown soldier," said Thomas DiGiuesppe, New England Commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
The gathering Saturday morning adorned the headstone with flowers, a wreath and a Confederate-gray uniform at its base. And with them they carried away a sense of having done the right thing.
"We know there are a lot of Maine boys buried down South, since most of the action during the war took place down there," Bunker said. "And we know our friends down South will take as good care of our boys as we're taking care of this one here."
By G. JEFFREY MACDONALD : Special to The Herald-Sun
Apr 22, 2001