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Civil war burial records

camgarsky4

Using the Fold3 civil war widow pensions files, I know that James Ryan, Thirty-Third Massachusetts Infantry Volunteers was wounded on June 22, 1864 during the battle of Kennesaw Mountain and died two days later  on June 24, at the Union hospital in Marietta, Ga.  

Marietta, Ga. has a National Union Cemetery, so i presumed that is where this James Ryan would be buried. However, after searching the grave locator for this cemetery, the only James Ryan buried there died July 7, 1864, but his gravestone lists he was a member of a Illinois military unit.  I had a cousin actually visit the site and send me a pic.

This James Ryan is from Fall River, Ma.  I can find no record of his burial there or via any other grave locator sites.

Since he died at a Union hospital, I would think there would be a record of his final internment.

Any suggestions?

Thank you.

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    Thank you for posting your question to the History Hub!

    Searching or documenting Civil War burials can be extremely difficult because the War Department really did not have an organized system for tracking that kind of information in the 19th century. This is why so many remains often ended up as unknown. Contrary to what you might think, most of the original wartime hospital records that we have in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office (Record Group 94) do not include information about the disposition of remains of patients that died. The patient registers usually noted the cause and date of death, but nothing about the patient's burial. The deceased were usually interred in a temporary burial site on the hospital grounds and then later removed to the nearest national cemetery, unless claimed by family, but there are no existing records that document that process. We did review the available burial register for the Marietta National Cemetery, and it confirms that the James Ryan buried there was from the 116th Illinois Infantry and died July 7, 1864. The only James Ryan we can find who died in June 1864 was from the 170th New York and was buried at the Cold Harbor National Cemetery in Mechanicsville, Virginia. He died on June 12, 1864. Based on the lack of evidence, we cannot confirm, or rule out, that your James Ryan may have become one of the thousands that ended up as unknown casualties from the war.

    We hope this explanation may assist you with your research.

    Sincerely,
    Archives 1 Reference Branch
    [RR1R-24-63951-JD]

Reply
  • 0

     

    Thank you for posting your question to the History Hub!

    Searching or documenting Civil War burials can be extremely difficult because the War Department really did not have an organized system for tracking that kind of information in the 19th century. This is why so many remains often ended up as unknown. Contrary to what you might think, most of the original wartime hospital records that we have in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office (Record Group 94) do not include information about the disposition of remains of patients that died. The patient registers usually noted the cause and date of death, but nothing about the patient's burial. The deceased were usually interred in a temporary burial site on the hospital grounds and then later removed to the nearest national cemetery, unless claimed by family, but there are no existing records that document that process. We did review the available burial register for the Marietta National Cemetery, and it confirms that the James Ryan buried there was from the 116th Illinois Infantry and died July 7, 1864. The only James Ryan we can find who died in June 1864 was from the 170th New York and was buried at the Cold Harbor National Cemetery in Mechanicsville, Virginia. He died on June 12, 1864. Based on the lack of evidence, we cannot confirm, or rule out, that your James Ryan may have become one of the thousands that ended up as unknown casualties from the war.

    We hope this explanation may assist you with your research.

    Sincerely,
    Archives 1 Reference Branch
    [RR1R-24-63951-JD]

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