The Cemetery Monument Hidden in Plain View: A Study of Black Civil War Soldiers & Sailors Buried at the Philadelphia NationalCemetery (Soldiers of the ... and sailors at the Philadelphia National Cem)

by Edward G. McLaughlin

The Philadelphia National Cemetery contains the remains of over 1,000 black Civil War soldiers and sailors buried in segregated sections of the Cemetery. The Philadelphia National Cemetery is within one mile of the original location of Camp William Penn, the first and largest training camp for United States Colored Troops (USCT) in the United States. Hundreds buried in these segregated sections were soldiers that died during their training at Camp William Penn or the hospitals that they were sent to. The story of over 1,000 black Civil War soldiers and sailors out of a total burial of over 13,000 buried at the Cemetery is unique in the country. The book was the result of exploring over 25,000 period records. The Philadelphia National Cemetery was one of 14 original national cemeteries established in 1862. Its unique history predates better-known national cemeteries, such as Arlington and Gettysburg. Another cemetery in the book, Lebanon Cemetery was the burial spot for many mid-19th century black Philadelphia citizens as well as the original burial location of the black Civil War soldiers and sailors that died during the war. Unbelievable scandals rocked Lebanon Cemetery midway through its existence and exacerbated its closing at the turn-of-the-century. The soldiers and sailors were all repatriated at the Philadelphia National Cemetery. The history of Camp William Penn makes very interesting reading. Many period newspaper articles tell of many the successes and failures, trials and tribulations during this camp's short lifetime. Unique stories of deaths by gunshot wounds and camp sickness focus on many individual soldiers. Equal pay between the black and their counterpart white soldiers will be focused on. Many of the soldiers were ex-slaves and their story had to be told. The final chapter contain postwar stories of widows seeking their husband's Civil War pension and the difficult race relations between the black widows and the white pension agents. The language used was the language of its day at the beginning of the 20th century taken directly from the pension agents records, some of the language difficult to read using modern-day standards.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 107693398X
• ISBN13: 9781076933980
• Release Date: June 2019
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 249 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.6" x 6.0"