Bethany Historic Cemetery & Conderate Mass Grave

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Bethany Historic Cemetery and Confederate Mass Grave

As the original site of the Bethany Presbyterian Church, the Bethany Historic Cemetery predates the Civil War by about ten years. Adjacent to the Park Service monument site, the cemetery contains a mass grave in which about thirty Confederate soldiers are buried and upon which the markers for ninety-six of the Confederates known to have been killed at Brice’s Crossroads have been placed. Many of the area’s earliest settlers are also buried here. Union dead from the battle were buried in common graves on the battlefield, but later were reinterred in the National Cemeteries in Corinth and Memphis.

According to Rev. Samuel Agnew, in the days following the battle, approximately 30 Confederate soldiers were interred on the site of the mass grave. By 1902, their wooden markers were deteriorated, leaving only one marked grave belonging to Hardin Gilbert whose family placed a marble civilian marker.

About 1940, a patriotic organization, possibly the United Daughters of Confederacy, placed 100 standard government stones inscribed with “unknown.”

Based on the casualty list compiled by Dr. J. W. Cowan, Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Chief Surgeon, 96 Confederate soldiers were killed in action.

In 1986, Roger Hansen of Pascagoula, Mississippi, initiated a project to identify and compile a list of those Confederate soldiers who died as a result of the battle. In his research, he found 102 soldiers whose remains lie somewhere on the battlefield. Ninety six of these men are represented by named stones placed in the mass grave area in 1989-90. The remaining stones are placed on the battlefield where their graves were known to be. With grant funding obtained from The Order of the Southern Cross and others, these stones were removed and reset in June-July, 2015.

The following is an alphabetical list of soldiers who were killed or mortally wounded at Brice’s Crossroads near Baldwyn, Mississippi June 10, 1864.

A
Adams, William A.
Arant, Arron
Arnold, J. Robert
Arrandale, J.J.
Autrey, John

B
Barham, Isaiah
Bazzell, T.W.
Bean, R.L.
Bell, J.S.
Bishop, Joseph
Bettis, M.
Boaz, Daniel B.
Bost, George H.
Boucher, Thomas P.

C
Cage, William H.
Camp, R.A.
Carroll,G.S.
Casey, R.C.
Chambers, W.M.
Christian, George Cabell
Cock, Jubal C.
Cole, J.W.
Coleman, Carr
Coleman, Daniel J.
Cooper, William H.

D
Davis, John T.
Dean, John A.
Dodds, Zack E.
Duke, R.E.

E
Edgman, JohnL.
Edwards, Lewis W.
Edwards, S.B.
Edwards, William J.
Elcan, Thomas R.
Ellis, Coleman
Everette, James T.
Exrum, John

F
Freeman, G.J.

G
Galbraith, Peter W.
Garneer, Isaac H.
Garner, James O.
Gilbert, Harden
Gilbert, J.B.
Govan, W.W.
Green, Memucan H.

H
Hall, Columbus K.
Haley, H.C.
Hamilton, R.L.
Haney, W.J.
Hardy, William C.
Harper, Richard H.
Harper, Richard H.
Harris, Jessie L.
Harrison, J.T.
Haskins, J.E.
Hawkins, Samuel Davis
Hibbit, J.R.
Hogg, W.R.
Holmon, Sandy
Hoover, E.P.
Horne, Samuel

J
Jackson, W.E.
James, Robert W.
Jennings, Albert
Jones, G.P.
Jones, M.B.
Jones, R.H.
Jones, Robert W.
Jourdan, James C.

K
Kendrick, H.C.
King, J.H.
Kirksey, J.H.
Klapp, F.M.

L
Lawrence, John Quincey
Lee, George
Luther, C.H.

M
Mason, W. Nathaniel
Masters, John N.
McCorkle, H.C.
McCrosky, J.S.
McMillion, Alexander E.
McMorris, Michael
Meshew, Charles H.
Mosely, Frank M.
Murphrey, Solomon

N
Nailling, E.P.
Neely, Charles R.
Nichols, Aaron
Nolley, Samuel Y.
Norman, B.F.

O
Owens, Robert

P
Peck, Robert L.
Peele, J.A.
Pipkin, Isaac H. (Doc)
Poindexter, Lewis H.
Pope, William S.
Porter, William H.
Potts, A.L.
Powell, Thomas K.
Pryor, J.S.

Q
Quaarles, W.

R
Rayner, William S.
Rennick, A. Thomas
Revely, Joseph P.
Rice, Thomas S.
Robertson, William T.

S
Saunders, M.L.
Seay, Robert M.
Sewell, Allen K.
Shuffield, C.S.
Simmons, T.C.
Smith, A. J.
Smith J.W.
Sommerville, James R.
Spencer, John William
Stahl, M.L.
Stahl, W.
Stewart, William J.H.
Stovall, J.B.
Stover, J.D.
Stuart, Joseph
Swetto, J.M.

T
Tate, William J.
Taylor, James
Thorn, William T.
Trice, William S.
Turner, John
Tyson, P.G.

V
Veazey, Simeon

W
Wakeland, H. Frank
Walker, Benjamin L.
Walker, R.F.
Warden, James
Webster, Samuel
Welch, W.R.
White, R.B.
Whitworth, G.W.
Williams, George W.
Williamson, Joseph A.
Wilson, J.J.
Wyatt, W.S.