Stop 6: Eli and Stambury Hitchcock
Grave #3028
One of three brothers who all enlisted together, Eli was a lawyer in Millville, Wisconsin before the war. Eli became ill and died on May 16, 1862 at Potomac Creek despite the care of his brother Chant who remained with him the entire time of his illness. His other brother Stanbury wrote somewhat bitterly to his parents about Eli’s death saying that he had not received proper care, that he had only a bed of straw to lay on, and that there were men working in the hospital who did not care whether a man lived or died.
There is another element to the story of Eli Hitchcock and his brothers. Eli’s name is on this gravestone, but it may be Stanbury who is buried there. After being wounded at South Mountain, Stanbury would die on May 10, 1864 at Laurel Hill during the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse. Originally buried on the battlefield, it was reported to his family that Stanbury was reinterred here at the national cemetery. Whether Eli or Stanbury it is likely that one of the brothers is buried here and the other lies somewhere else in the cemetery under a marker that reads unknown. Chant was captured at Gettysburg, released and returned to the regiment, was severely wounded at the Wilderness but survived, the only one of the brothers to return home.