3 days ago
Greenwood Cemetery in Cuthbert gets new interpretive sign
By David Dixon
CUTHBERT — A new interpretive sign was just installed in Greenwood Cemetery recently, placed beside the monument to the unknown Confederate soldiers buried there.
The monument was erected in 2021 by the Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp No. 1855, Calhoun Rifles, of Calhoun County. The camp had been working on it since May 2022 when the monument was dedicated. It was felt that the additional information was needed in order to tell and explain the history of what took place at the three Confederate hospitals located there and historic at Greenwood Cemetery during the last year of the War Between the States.
'The new sign and monument are dedicated to these soldiers and to recognize a group of men that was totally forgotten, unknown, and unappreciated for their sacrifice,' Camp Commander Glenn Sinquefield said.
Matrix of Lee County completed the design, and the wording was done by camp member Charles Swann.
Greenwood Cemetery is tucked away from the busy main streets of Cuthbert. Founded in 1843, the cemetery was originally part of the First Methodist Church of Cuthbert. Cuthbert itself is one of the oldest communities in southwest Georgia, having first been occupied by white Americans in 1831 as the county seat of the newly formed Randolph County. It was incorporated as a town in 1834 and as a city in 1859. It served as a trading center for this area of Georgia. The Central of Georgia Railway arrived in Cuthbert in the 1850s, further stabilizing its position in that regard.
During the latter part of the War Between the States, Cuthbert housed three Confederate hospitals. The three hospitals were named Hood (now the site of Andrew College), Hill and Lumpkin. The hospitals were used primarily for treating soldiers who became sick or wounded during the 1864 Atlanta Campaign. Many of the soldiers who died from disease or wounds at these hospitals were buried in Greenwood Cemetery.
Karan Pittman and Lela B. Phillips from Andrew College researched and co-authored a book on the Confederate hospitals in Cuthbert. Twenty-four Confederate graves are marked at Greenwood Cemetery. The pair discovered that the majority of these men died from a smallpox epidemic that touched Cuthbert in December 1864 and January 1865. However, there was a large open space in the cemetery that puzzled the researchers. They and others suspected there might be other graves in this area. They coordinated their research with the Calhoun Rifles to arrange for a ground penetrating radar scan of this space, which revealed 157 previously unknown and unmarked graves.
Since the cemetery is located by the railroad tracks, it was thought to be the most convenient for burials, as it was also near Hood Hospital. It is believed some of the men being transported for care, died on the trip south. Thus, it is thought, many of these soldiers were hastily buried in the cemetery after being removed from the railcars.
Information on the identities of these men, along with the men who died in the hospitals, has yet to be discovered, so their existence was unknown and forgotten until the research and the monument and sign were completed. While we will probably never know their identities, they are certainly now recognized for their sacrifice.
