Alvin Booker, a U.S. Army private from Maine, died in 1863 during the Civil War and is buried at Baton Rouge National Cemetery. Some of my family find it strange, but I often photograph the cemetery and have learned a lot of history doing so. I photograph the graves of soldiers out of gratitude and respect, but mostly I feel incredibly sad at the thought of young men dying so far from home. Having had a grandson deployed to a war zone, I also feel for the families they left at home. In the Civil War, men from the same community often served together, so it was not unusual for a small town to lose most of its young men in a single campaign.
@olivetreeann Thanks for your comment! I've learned more than I wanted to know about death during the Civil War. Most soldiers were buried where they died. Only wealthy families could have a fallen soldier returned home for burial. There were no dog tags, so many were never identified. National cemeteries like the two near me are filled with soldiers from every state, but many graves are marked with a stone reading "Unknown."
@eudora We visited Antitem a few years ago and it was overwhelmingly sorrowful. Most of the men who died there were buried where they fell. I can't imagine the pain of the families who would never see their sons again and never be able to visit their graves.
April 19th, 2020
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