J.A,, Reading your informative postings is like reading a page from one of Bruce Catton's books on the Civil War. With a nod to the late Dean Martin, "Keep those cards and letters coming folks." Will pittsaj14@hotmail.com wrote: This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/xhC.2ACE/771.1 Message Board Post: You might contact the National Park Service at Gettysburg to see what park guides and historians know about this. Most Confederates who died on the field were buried in trenches or shallow unmarked graves. Virginia authorities collected many dead from Pickett's Division and buried them under a large pyramid in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond Va. Many of the unfortunate North Carolina boys of Iverson's Brigade were buried in a trench near where they died. Afterwards a farmer planted a vineyard here. Grapes grown in the soil over this burial trench were processed and sold to visitors as "battlefield wine". Col. Oates visited the battlefield when the park was first constituted and identified many of the positions held by his regiment on the second day's fighting. The intent was that permanent markers replace the wooden stakes placed by Oates during his visit. However, Federal veterans objected to the placement of Confederate markers anywhere near there own, and the park adopted guidelines that markers be placed at the starting positions of each unit only. Oates objected strenuously. Realizing that Federal funds for markers would have to spent according to park guidlines, Oates offered state funds and even private funds to mark the positions held by his regiment in their fight with he 20th Maine. Eventually Oates lost the 2nd Battle of Gettysburg and the wooden stakes he had placed were lost as well. You will note that the beautiful Alabama monument at Gettysburg stands on the site where Law's Brigade formed for the attack in the late afternoon of July 2nd. I don't recall Oates writing anything about the burial place of his brother. If it was marked presumably he would have visited and written a few words about the last resting place of John Oates. Certainly William C. Oates reserved a large space in the published records of the 15th Alabama for his brother. I strongly suspect that the last resting place of this officer, and many other Southern boys, is unmarked and unknown, except to God. ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 "...may the rainbow always touch your shoulder" old Ani'-tyu'-wiya blessing --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Sign-up for Video Highlights of 2002 FIFA World Cup