Yahoo Movies Civil War Soldier Gets Gravestone More Than 150 Years After 1863 Death: 'Makes You Feel Proud'
Amber Saunders
More than a century and a half after his death during a battle against Confederate soldiers, Atwood Young finally received a headstone thanks to the work of his great-great-grandsons.
According to the Advertiser Democrat, brothers Philip McAlister Jr. and Jamison McAlister, dedicated a headstone for their great-great-grandfather during a burial ceremony on their farm in Maine earlier this month.
"Makes you feel proud," Philip told WESH of the May 1 ceremony. "We got something done that should have been done 158 years ago."
Young, a Union soldier, is said to have died during the Battle of Fort Wagner, the brothers told the Advertiser Democrat.
The battle, an unsuccessful assault by Union soldiers against Confederate troops during the American Civil War, took place between July and September 1963, per the American Battlefield Trust. More than 1,500 Union soldiers died during the fight and its events are famously depicted in the 1989 movie, Glory.
While researching Young's life, Philip and Jamison discovered the late soldier was nearly 50 when he signed up to fight in the Civil War.
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Amber Saunders
Young was so determined to fight alongside the Union Army that he lied about his birth year — changing it from 1812 to 1825, according to the Advertiser Democrat.
In documents, one eyewitness said Young was hit by a musket ball to the head during the Battle of Fort Wagner. Young likely was buried in a mass grave on a beach, that was subsequently reburied at a national cemetery in South Carolina, the outlet said.
But the new gravesite was deteriorated by storms and other weather-related events in the years that followed.
"His body was probably washed out to sea and after the war. They went back and dug him up, a lot of them were missing, so they really didn't have a body for him," Philip told WESH.
After Philip found out that Young had not received a proper burial, the family took it upon themselves to make it happen.
"When my brother found out that he never had a grave, that was kind of the driving force to say, 'Hey, listen, we need to have a grave,'" Jamison, a veteran, told the news station.
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The brothers eventually received a headstone from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the Advertiser Democrat reported.
Local members of the American Legion were on hand to pay respect to Young during the brothers' ceremony on May 1.
"[This is] not just the story of our grandfather but what about other soldiers, you know?" Jamison told WESH. "I think every family should turn around and bring their loved ones home. Maybe you didn't know them, they should bring them home."
