Stop 6: William C. Morgan
Grave #3615
The inability to transport soldiers’ bodies meant that they remained far away from home. Many families were unable to bury their loved ones or visit their graves. For some, locating and visiting the graves remained a hope long after the war. For M. E. Andrews, the dream of finally visiting the grave of her only brother, Major William C. Morgan (grave #3615), who died at the North Anna River in 1864 was fulfilled twenty-eight years after his death. In the fall of 1892 she traveled to Fredericksburg and enlisted the help of the cemetery staff to find William’s final resting spot among the thousands of graves. Finally, she stood before the headstone of her only brother:
I wish my dear sister, that you could see it, it is one of the most beautuful spots I ever saw, at the head of the grave there is a beautiful Japonica tree which shades it, I was pretty well overcome, and the tears dropped fast [.] I felt and know that he was beside me, I knelt down on the grave and sobbed, as I knelt there, there was a little Japonica Apple fell right into my lap, from the tree, the man picked it up and gave it to me saying that it was a message to you Mrs Andrews, he was very kind and gave me several shoots from the tree. I brought them home, and am trying to root them, if they root you shall have one.
Andrews continued on to talk about providing funds to decorate William’s grave on a regular basis.