Author: Kasey Reese
Major: Political Science
Approved: Spring 2016
Status: Completed
A cemetery in Madison, Wisconsin, is a home to an estimated 140 Confederate soldiers. They were taken prisoner in 1862 and brought to Camp Randall, where most died of accidents, exhaustion, and disease. This fact, as well as their names, has become largely forgotten. An attempt was made in the late nineteenth century to exhume their graves and return their remains back to their southern homes. However, due to a lack of funding, turbulent reconstruction, and pervading sectional tensions, the project fell through. It is the purpose of this project to research these Confederate soldiers, their lives, service, and death in order to raise awareness and add to the academic research concerning the Civil War. This project will work toward a collaboration of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to take up and aid in this effort. The hope is to set the stage for future endeavors to disinter their remains for the journey home, which is the main objective of this project.
