Group remembers Confederate Memorial Day

A group of people gathered in Pine Hill Cemetery paused for a somber moment when two young people walked across the grass to place a wreath in front of a memorial erected 115 years ago for 98 unknown soldiers.

And then “Taps” played.

It could have very well been a scene from Memorial Day or Veterans Day, but it wasn’t. Saturday was Confederate Memorial Day.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy, Admiral Semmes Chapter #57, annually celebrates the day in the Auburn cemetery by placing Confederate flags at the graves of the soldiers buried there and holding a small remembrance ceremony.

This year was a little different than year’s past, however. After the ceremony in Auburn, the crowd headed to Notasulga to witness the dedication of a historic marker for Camp Watts, the site of a Confederate hospital. Members of the UDC chapter found that Juliet Opie Hopkins, a Confederate nurse, ran the facility for a couple of years in the 1860s.

Chapter president Martha Young said the day is marked every year to pay homage to the memory of the Confederate soldiers and to make sure future generations remember the significance of their deeds and sacrifices. Pine Hill is the finally resting place for a number of Confederate soldiers, including the 98 unknown. The grave markers indicate that the young boys came from all over the south, but died in Auburn. The unknown soldiers were believed to be part of a brigade from Texas.

D. Tyrone Crowley, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Prattville Dragoons #1524, read three letters written by Private Elisha Kindred Flournoy to give the group gathered Saturday “a glimpse into the life of a typical Confederate soldier.” All 182 letters written by Flournoy are housed in the Alabama Archives in Montgomery.

Two of the three letters Crowley read were to Flournoy’s wife. The other went to his brother. But no matter the recipient, Flournoy described sickness and what Crowley called “intolerable conditions.” He was often weak and without food and he proclaimed to both of them that he was probably going to die before he made it back home.

Although the young man experienced unimaginable conditions, including being a POW, Crowley said he did make it home and lived for 30 years after the war.

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