Last week I wrote about the many badly dilapidated Civil War graves in Pittsburgh's Allegheny Cemetery, just a few yards from a perfectly preserved section:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
A busy week kept me from getting back till today, though I have begun doing some research. For those who remain interested I'll take a moment to fill you in.
First let me see that though neglected is certainly accurate it might be that segregated is not. It is all more complicated than I thought. There are actually 5 Civil War plots in that area; the well-preserved one close to the Soldiers Monument; the run-down area that I examined last week is actually 2 plots side by side; with 2 more, perhaps more run down, close by.
(Run-down may be a bad choice of words. It is not a case of the cemetery ignoring the grounds. The old marble markers have toppled and are all illegible, or close, from the acid rain.)
Despite my earlier impression, the decaying graves are not segregated. There are both black and white troopers buried in the bad sections. The well-preserved area is all white though not all Union, with somewhere between 5 and 15 Confederates buried there.
Using online sources I have so far come up with a list of 112 burials of black soldiers from the United States Colored Troops and regular-numbered, though all black, units like the 54th Massachusetts Infantry; the list was longer but there seems to be some duplication. I have also found Pennsylvania Veteran burial cards for 101. These, I hope, will help move forward the effort to get new markers for these men.
Now the job has gotten larger. What I thought was 100 or so men in need of replacement markers looks to be several times that number. Again using the burial cards I have begun to accumulate some records relating to these men.
I am still waiting to speak to my contact in my Congressman's office to see if there is any help to be found there. I am hoping to get the local historical society involved as well, since this is clearly not a job for one single person.
My thanks to those who have taken an interest. Advice from anyone who has tackled a job like this remains appreciated.
I have done some small research into the service records and background of some of these men as well, and in the coming weeks hope to post some short profiles.
Because no American soldier, black or white or other, should be forgotten in a grave that looks like this.