Full Honors For Two Civil War Soldiers This Week

Two Civil War soldiers will receive full military honors at ceremonies this week, one for a replacement grave marker and the other for a burial. First Sgt. William A. Francis, of the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry, whose marker at Albany Rural Cemetery, Albany, N.Y., was missing for many years, will be honored with a new stone on Wednesday at 11 a.m.

In Franklin, Tenn., an unknown solider whose remains were found during commercial construction on the Franklin battlefield will receive a proper burial at Rest Haven Cemetery in Franklin on Saturday at 10 a.m. A son of a Confederate solider and one of a Union solider will participate in the burial service.
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Francis, an Albany resident who died in 1897, went to Boston in 1863 to volunteer for the newly organized colored troops. He fought until the end of the war, having participated in the July 1863 assault on Battery Wagner made famous by the movie "Glory."

During an effort to identify every Civil War solider buried at Rest Haven, it was discovered that the head stone was missing from his grave. Eventually it was found broken and face down under a thin layer of sod. A new one was ordered from the Veterans Administration.

The ceremony on Oct. 7 will include a firing party made up of a New York National Honor Guard and the 125th New York Volunteer Infantry, a re-enactors group.

In Franklin, no one knows on which side the unnamed soldier fought, so the ceremony will include re-enactors from the South and the North. On Saturday, a Union and a Confederate chaplain will conduct a brief funeral service at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. The flag-draped coffin will be carried from the church by uniformed pall bearers, representing both sides, and placed on a horse-drawn caisson. The caisson will travel down Main Street , accompanied by a color guard, an honor guard and musicians.

At the cemetery, Harold Becker, 93, of Grand Rapids, Mich., and James Brown, 97, of Knoxville, will join together to help re-inter the solider. Becker's father, Charles Conrad Becker, fought with the 128th Indiana in the Franklin battle where 10,000 men were listed as casualties. Brown's father, James H. H. Brown of the 8th Georgia Infantry, fought at Gettysburg.

On Oct. 10, these two sons of Civil War veterans will shake hands across the grave of a soldier known only to God.

By Linda Wheeler  |  October 5, 2009; 12:08 PM ET
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