US Civil War Veterans’ Graves in the UK
The funeral of Civil War Navy veteran Edward Monroe, aged 106, at Bow Cemetery, London, on February 12, 1915. At right, bearded John Davis, Secretary of the London Branch of American Civil War Veterans and another Navy veteran, heads the procession.
Researching the Veterans’ Grave Sites
Current research, which focuses on the UK excluding Ireland, shows that there are at least 21 Mexican War and Old Army Veterans 1,144 Union and 140 Confederate veterans buried, or likely to be buried, in the mainland UK. Also included in the totals are the widows of veterans who died during the war and did not return, and a few memorials in graveyards or churches to men who died during the war.
To date, the locations are known of 343 Union Veterans, or their widows if they did not return; 60 Confederate Veterans, a high proportion of these were crewmen of the CSS Alabama; plus a number of the more prominent supporters of both sides who were active in influencing the outcomes; and others, such as newspaper reporters, politicians and blockade runners. It is a difficult task to decide who to include, since the Civil War gave rise to great passions and divisions in England, and only a selection can be included in the research.
Included among the veterans known to be buried here are:-
| 8 | Recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor (the US equivalent of the V.C.): Philip James Baybutt, Private, Co. A, 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry. Southern Cemetery, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Lancashire, Grave H 2085 C, East Part George H. Bell, U.S.S. Santee, Western World, Tecumseh, Princeton, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Brooklyn. Elswick Cemetery, Newcastle-on-Tyne George Gouraud, Sergeant-Major – Lieut. Colonel, 3rd New York Cavalry. Died Switzerland 1912, but probably buried with his wife in Brighton, Sussex. Henry Holden, Private, Co. C, 59th Massassachusetts Infantry and Co. C, 57th Massachusetts Infantry. Joined US Regular Army after war; Co. E, 8th U.S. Infantry 1865-71; Co. D, 7th U.S. Cavalry 1872-7, in which role he was awarded the Medal for his actions in the Little Bighorn Campaign of 1876; Private, Co. A, 2nd U.S. Artillery 1878-83. Grave U25, Brighton & Preston Cemetery. Hugh Logan, Co. F, 12th New Hampshire Infantry, and then USS Ohio, Vermont, Rhode Island, Shokokon, Winooski, Juniata, winning the Medal for his role in rescuing the crew of the USS Monitor while on USS Rhode Island. St. Kentigern’s Cemetery, Lanark; a stone for his unmarked grave was installed in 2017. Robert W. Montgomery, Private, 8th Connecticut Infantry; Seaman, USS Minnesota & Agawam. Ford Cemetery, Liverpool, Public Lot, Section BZ, Grave 2414 (unmarked) James Harry Thompson, Surgeon, 43rd & 139th New York Infantry. He died at Great Yarmouth, Nov. 4,1896, but his grave has not yet been found, and he could have been buried in Paris or Rome. Maurice Wagg, USS North Carolina, Princeton, Rhode Island, Gemsbok, Tristram Shandy. Won the Medal at the same time, and on the same ship, as Hugh Logan. East London Cemetery, Grave 14951. A stone for his unmarked grave was dedicated at a ceremony in 2016. |
| 6 | African-American Soldiers who served in the so-designated U.S. Colored Troops: Charles H. Johnson, Musician, Co. E, 1st North Carolina Infantry, a.k.a. 35th U.S.Colored Infantry. Was living in Scotland in 1895; place of burial not yet known. James Henry Monroe, Sergeant, Co. K, 28th U. S. Colored Infantry. Southampton Old Cemetery, Grave 62, Section B168 William Silkerd, Private, Co. B, 4th U.S.Colored Infantry. Died 1924 in Leyton, Essex; grave not yet known. John Whitmore, alias John R. Barber, John Whittimore, Rufus Barber, John Rufus).Steward, USS Fort Donelson, St. Lawrence, William Badger. Walton Park Cemetery, Liverpool, Grave number not yet ascertained. George Washington Williams, Private in a U.S. Colored Troops unit, exact designation not recorded. Prominent post-war Black historian. Layton Cemetery, Blackpool, Grave F123 William Zabriskie, Seaman, USS North Carolina, National Guard, Rhode Island). Lived in both New York and London; address in 18905 Leicester Square, London, but place of death not yet identified. |
| 5 | Women: Sister Mary Gertrude Ledwith, Nurse for the U.S. Medical Department with the Sisters of Mercy. Received a Federal pension after the war. Alnwick Cemetery, grave 17.B/66.RC Susan Ellen Marsh, Nurse for the U.S. Medial Department. Received a Federal pension after the war. Cremated 1911 at Anfield Crematorium, Liverpool. Janet Newbury or Newberry, Nurse during the Crimean War, Indian Mutiny and American Civil War. Received a Federal pension after the war. Died Whiston, Lancs.,1926, aged 103; grave not yet located. Hannah Beavis Randle Walters, Volunteer Nurse during the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1863. Buried Liverpool Road Cemetery, Birkdale, Lancs., Section D, grave 34/35. Harriet Ormiston, alias Elizabeth Taylor, etc.. Known as “Happy Ned”, she is an enigmatic character who lived much or her life as a man and is reputed to have served as a coal heaver, either on the US Blockading Squadron coaling fleet, or supplying coal to blockade runners? Buried St. Mary’s Churchyard, Great Sankey, Lancs. |
| 3 | Generals: Oscar Veniah Dayton, Lieut. Colonel, 62nd New York Infantry; Lieut. Colonel, 1st Regiment, Veteran Reserve Corps; Colonel, 19 Regiment, Veteran Reserve Corps; Brevet Brigadier General. Brompton Cem., London, Grave number not yet ascertained. William Latimer Duff, Lieut. Colonel, 2nd Illinois Artillery; Assistant Adjutant General, Staff of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant; Brevet Brigadier General. Compartment H, Lair 115, Elgin Cemetery, Scotland, and commemorated on the Old Calton Monument, Edinburgh. Jairus W. Hall, 2nd Lieut. – Colonel, 4th Michigan Infantry; Brevet Brigadier General. Lambeth Cemetery and Crematorium, Tooting, Grave 277, b2gen the contesting widow of Samuel P. Spear, who served in Co. F, 2nd U.S. Cavalry in the Mexican War, was Colonel of the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry; ended the war as Brevet Brigadier General; contesting widow made a claim from England in 1904; her grave has not yet been located. |
| 21 | Veterans of the Mexican-American War of 1846-8, or of the pre-war U.S. Regular Army. |
| 140 | Confederate veterans: Of the Confederates currently identified as buried, or likely to be buried, in the UK, 47 were crewmen of the privateer Alabama and 11 of the privateer Shenandoah. |
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Despite good progress in finding their graves, the locations of only some 25% are so far known, and much further research is needed. In a high proportion of cases, particularly where the names were quite common and all we have is a note of an application for a Federal Pension, or where the veterans lived in the larger cities and were buried as paupers, insufficient information is currently available to allow us to identify where the veterans lived and died.
Access to the pension files would help to identify and locate many more. Though numbers have been accessed via the Fold3 website, the majority await inclusion, and are only available at the U.S. National Archives at Washington DC. Copies of the files can be purchased, at $80 a file, but with some 700-800 still needed, the cost is prohibitive. They can, however, be consulted at the National Archives without charge.
Therefore:
(1) Help would be greatly appreciated from SUVCW brothers living in the Washington DC area, who could visit the National Archives and copy files for us; this would be invaluable for us in progressing the task of identifying Union Soldiers’ Graves in the UK. Confederates only received pensions from the states in which they served, if they resided in those states; therefore Confederate veterans living abroad received no pensions.
(2) Help is welcomed from researchers, local history groups, or any other interested persons who are able to visit their local cemeteries, or local authority or other local history archives and consult their local burial registers, which in many cases will hold the clue to where the veterans are buried. If you would like to participate, please post a comment using the form below or leave a message on the Contact section of this website, telling us the area or region which you would like to search, and we will get back to you and let you know if there are any veterans whom we believe are buried in your area.
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I am the author of 5 books on ACW gravesites , they sold out many years ago but I would be happy to let you have the information files I have on ACW veterans buried here. I am sure you would find the information useful in honouring veterans in the U.K.
My Great Great Grandfather George W Denham served in US Navy and 111th PA volunteers. He is buried at Pancras cemetery.
Is there a complete list of Union Veterans buried in England? I’m researching Indiana Civil War Soldiers and would love to compile a list of soldiers buried in the U.K. Thanks.