Civil War Burials - Johnson County, Kentucky

 On July 17, 1862, Congress passed an act that those who gave their lives in defense of the Republic should rest forever within the guarded confines of a national cemetery. Immediately following the end of the Civil War in 1865, the Quartermaster Department, being tasked to care for the Army's dead, initiated plans plans to locate and exhume human remains from battlefields and other temporary graves to concentrate them in national cemeteries. General Orders No. 40, issued July 3, 1865, sought lists of interments registered during the war, but only documentation for less than 30 percent of the dead was produced; it then became necessary to review casualty reports. As a result, General Orders No. 65, issued on October 30, 1865, requested the locations of cemeteries and gave recommendations for their preservation.

A joint resolution of Congress, approved April 13, 1866, authorized and required the Secretary of War “to take immediate measures to preserve from desecration the graves of soldiers of the United States who fell in battle or died of disease in the field and in hospitals during the war of the rebellion.” National cemeteries were officially established with the Act to Establish and to Protect National Cemeteries, approved February 22, 1867.

The work of the Quartermaster Department proved to be enormously challenging, especially in regard to making identifications. The vast majority of the graves were marked with temporary wooden headboards which were either decaying, had fallen to the ground  or were completely destroyed. Efforts were made to locate witnesses who could point out the graves and/or identify the soldiers and the circumstances of their deaths. However, only 58% of the disinterred and reburied soldiers were identified. Despite the difficulties encountered the work went forward so rapidly between 1866 and 1870, that the Cemeterial Division had disinterred the remains of nearly 300,000 war dead and laid them to rest in 73 newly created national cemeteries. In September 1871, Assistant Quartermaster J. D. Bingham submitted a report to Quartermaster General Meigs, listing seventy-four national cemeteries containing the remains of 303,536 Union soldiers. Bingham reported that 2,295 Union dead had been removed to the nearest national cemetery that year, and that he believed few, if any, remains were unaccounted for.

While working in the Big Sandy Valley, the Quartermaster Department located four burial sites in Johnson County. The remains of the Union soldiers were taken to New Albany National Cemetery in New Albany, Indiana. The largest site by far was what is known today as the Old Town Cemetry, located on Church Street in Paintsville.

According to records, the majority of soldiers who died in Paintsville served during J. A. Garfield’s Eastern Kentucky Campaign of 1861/1862. The continuous mix of rain, snow and sleet quickly turned the camps into swamps. Crowded living conditions, with 12-15 men cramped into one company tent, quickly aided the spread of disease. Many tents lacked stoves which forced the men to stand around campfires in knee deep mud in order to keep warm. The weather also hampered the food supply and the men had to live on half rations. In consequence, disease became rampant and reduced the ranks drastically. Only the most urgent cases were admitted to the hospital because of lack of sufficient room. Regiments mostly affected were the 14th Kentucky Infantry and 42nd OVI. 

Old Town Cemetery, Paintsville (23 Union burials plus 1 Confederate grave)

 Described as a “public graveyard in an old cultivated field.” The graves in the soldiers’ burial lot were in poor condition and the headboards mostly non-existent (mainly because they were made from wooden boards and deteriorated quickly). With the exception of two graves, none of the twenty-three burials were identifiable and were logged as “unknown.” In addition, the Quartermaster’s burial register also noted a “rebel grave” as well as two citizens graves which were located among the Union burials.

Sketch of cemetery found in the US QM Burial Register

14th Kentucky Infantry (13 deaths)

The highest casualty rate at Paintsville was sustained by the 14th Kentucky Infantry who lost thirteen men. Much can be attributed to the fact that the regiment was ordered to remain in Paintsville until the end of March when Garfield’s campaign ended, in order to guard the stores of the brigade while the remainder of Garfield’s troops moved up the Big Sandy River to Piketon on February 9/10, 1862.

James W. Rose, Co. B - January 18, 1862, wound in the thigh received in Battle of Middle Creek

Jeremiah Fitch, Co. I -  January 22, 1862, typhoid fever

James B. Arthur, Co. C - Camp Buell, Febuary 6, 1862, disease

John Taylor, Co. H - February 7/15, 1862, camp fever

John Keen, Co. F - Camp Buell, February 10, 1862, typhoid fever

Samuel Vermillion, Co. H - February 10, 1862, camp fever

Ambrose Jones, Co. C - February 15, 1862, disease

George Bruner, Co. F - Camp Buell, February 17, 1862, typhoid fever

Lindsey Lambert, Co. C -  February 25, 1862, disease

Isaac Johnson, Co. B - March 3, 1862, congestion of the lungs

Solomon Quillan, Co. K - March 6, 1862, fever

Henry Adkins, Co. C - March 16, 1862, disease

Robert P. Elam, Co. I - Camp Buell, March 24, 1862, accidental discharge of musket

42nd OVI (10 deaths)

William Gardner and Frederick C. Coffin were the first two burials in the regiment which took place on January 14, 1862. Captain Henry noted, “Today the wounded boys of Companies F and G, two of them, were buried. The ceremony was impressive and many looked sad when they saw the escort march up that hill to the graves.” Another comrade stated that they were buried “in the evening with military honors. A very solemn scene.”

 Corporal William Gardner, Co. G - January 12, 1862, wounds received in Battle of Middle Creek. Gardner’s body was buried under a cedar tree. His headboard bore the following inscription: In Memory of Crpl Wm Gardner who was wounded in the battle of Middle Creek and died Jany 12-1862, aged 24 years ~ Co “G” 42# Regt  OV U.S.A

(USVA, grave # 1234, Section B; Find A Grave Memorial ID 3283781)

Frederick C. Coffin, Co. C/F - January 13, 1862, wounds received in Battle of Middle Creek

Frederick C. Coffin had succumbed to his wounds while being transported by boat on the Big Sandy River from Prestonsburg to Paintsville. A head board was not located for his grave. Therefore, he is one of the unknown soldiers in the cemetery.

John Beachley, Co. H - January 22, 1862, measles.

According to a comrade, on January 23, 1862,  “at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Beachley was buried with military honors.” His grave had no headboard.

Reuben Blunt/ Blunot/Blanot, Co. E - January 28, 1862, drowned in the Big Sandy River near Paintsville, by falling overboard a steamboat. His grave is one of two that were positively identified.

(USVA, grave # 1237, Plot Section B; Find A Grave Memorial ID 168793811)

Five more deaths were recorded in the 42nd OVI:

Corporal Julian W. Smith, d. Jan. 29, 1862, hospital, Paintsville

Milton Flint, Co. E - February 1, 1862, hospital

Luke Flint, Co. E - February 7, 1862, hospital

George Sexton, Co. E - February 7, 1862, hospital, disease

Milo A. Hobert, Co. K - February 28, 1862, typhoid fever

1st Kentucky Cavalry (4 deaths)

Wm. John Noland (Andrew J. Nolan), Co. F - January 10, 1862, typhoid fever

Robert F. Raborn (Raybourne), Co. L - January 14, 1862, fever

Moses Teater, Co. G - January 15, 1862, disease

Wm. A. Branch, Co. L -  January 26, 1862, fever (his horse died Feb 10, 1862)

40th OVI Soldiers who died at Paintsville (3 deaths)

James M. Radenbaugh, Co. E - 1862, buried soldiers’ burial lot in Paintsville

Jefferson Postle, Co. C - February 7, 1862, disease, buried soldiers’ burial lot in Paintsville

Charles C. Henderson, Co. A - January 1862, disease (may have died at Ashland; records are inconclusive)

2nd WV Cavalry (2 deaths)

Amos McKee, Co. B - January 8, 1862, kia, body taken home

Albert Leonard, Co. C - January 8, 1862, kia, body taken home

Union Deaths in Paintsville 1862 to 1865

McLaughlin’s Squadron (1 death)

James Bunting, Co. B - Sept. 4, 1862

In December of 1863, sickness raged through the ranks of the soldiers in the District of Eastern Kentucky. For the month of December 1863, the returns to headquarters show 911 aggregate present while the total aggregate present and absent show 1,901 men, a difference of 990 soldiers. A typhoid outbreak among the troops stationed at Paintsville claimed several victims, mostly new recruits, who may have been buried at the Old Town Cemetery.

14th Kentucky Infantry (3 deaths)

Thomas Marshall, Co. F - Dec. 2, 1863, of typhoid fever

Henry C. Power, Co. F - Dec. 8, 1863, typhoid fever

Emanuel J. Hickem, Co. F - Dec. 17, 1863, typhoid fever

45th Kentucky Infantry (1 death)

James Burchett, Co. C - December 4, 1863/Jan. 4, 1864, of typhoid fever. According to the late local historian Janet Horn, James Burchett is still buried in the cemetery although there is no stone marking his grave. No notation is found in the Quartermaster Department’s burial register that a body was left behind in this cemetery. However, there is a slight possibility that his grave may have been overlooked when the bodies were taken up. James Burchett was the 16 year old son of Leonard Burchett and Lydia Osborn who lived in Flatgap, Johnson County, Kentucky. His father served three weeks each in the 5th Kentucky Infantry (CS) and Fields’ Company of Partisan Rangers (CS) during the Civil War.

39th Kentucky Infantry (2 deaths)

Isaac Vicars, Co. C - KIA, April 13, 1864, gun shot wound, a “rebel ball passing through his body.” He was killed during the “Battle of Paintsville.”

Jason Bennett, Co. K - December 13/8, 1864, pneumonia fever, hospital

6th US Colored Cavalry (1 death)

Joseph Nelson, Co. C, d. December 20, 1864, in hospital in Paintsville

Final analysis of the burials in the Old Town Cemetery

During the Civil War, a total of 40 US soldiers died in Paintsville, Kentucky. However, the US Quartermaster burial register document 23 Union graves, two of which were positively identified. The bodies of two men were taken home soon after their death and were probably never buried in the Old Town Cemetery. What remains are 36 casualties yet only 21 graves. Since the remaining 21 burials were marked as unknown, it begs the question who of the 36 men not identified in the register were still in the cemetery, had been taken home or were perhaps buried at an unknown location? It is possible, even though unlikely, that some burials in the cemetery were overlooked by the Quartermaster  Department or that they failed to locate other burial sites in or near Paintsville. Unless more documentation surfaces, these questions may never be answered.

Aside from the Old Town Cemetery, the US Quartermaster Department located three additional burial sites in Johnson County.

Old family cemetery opposite Big Paint Creek (2 burials)

This cemetery contained the graves of two soldiers. The cemetery is described as an “old family grave yard” which was located “600 feet from Bend of River opposite Big Paint Creek.”

Sketch of cemetery found in the US QM Burial Register

Unknown soldier

His grave was enclosed by a fence.  His remains were not taken up by the Quartermaster  Department.

William A. Lackey, Co. I, 39th Kentucky Infantry

Drowned in Big Paint Creek, April 20, 1864. Lackey was on picket duty and after being  relieved, he was returning to camp on the northside of Paint Creek which was much swollen. In attempting to cross, he became disengaged from his horse in deep water and was drowned. The Adjutant was present at the time and assisted in getting his body from the water.

Lackey was buried in his clothes. William N. Randolph, Co. A, 39h KY, Commissary Sergeant, attended the burial and later helped the Quartermaster Department to locate Lackey’s grave and identify him. Lackey's grave was located opposite of the fenced-in unknown soldiers’ grave, and 15 feet south of a Beech tree. A stone with the initials W. A. L. carved into it, was placed at the head of grave.

USVA, grave # 1241, Section B; Find A Grave Memorial ID 3284789

Burial site on George W. Auxier's land, Big Sandy River & Little Paint Creek (1 burial)

“Located on Big Sandy River on left hand side, coming from Piketon, 250 yards below Little Paint Creek, 600 feet from the river and 12 feet west of a small white walnut tree on George W. Auxier's land, on a bluff on the opposite side of River from Auxier's house.”

Sketch of cemetery found in the US QM Burial Register

George Washington Auxier was the son of Nathaniel Auxier and Hester Ann Mayo.

Corporal Keanas F. Lacy, Co. C, 39th Kentucky Infantry 

Keanas F. Lacy drowned in Middle Creek, on March 16, 1864. Stone at head and foot of grave, no marks on them. The grave and soldier was identified by Lindsey Maners (possibly Linsey Manard (wife Martha) from Pike County, Kentucky) who helped bury him. He was buried without a coffin. Lacy was wearing cavalry pants, spurs and “two good boots.”

(USVA, grave #1216, Section B; Find A Grave Memorial ID 3284786)

Jefferson Conley Farm, Little Paint Creek (1 burial)

“Located at Little Paint Creek, six miles south of Paintsville, on Jefferson Conley's farm, 3/4 of a mile west from Mr. Conley's house, on the outside of a fence in bank and 22 feet east from where a branch puts into Little Paint Creek and 35 feet to middle of State Road where it crosses Little Paint Creek and 3/4 of a mile west of bend in River, opposite J. Conley's house.”

Sketch of cemetery found in the US QM Burial Register

Unknown US Colored soldier (possibly 5th or 6th US Colored Cavalry)

Unknown soldier, who “froze to death in December 1864 while returning from raid to Saltville, Va.” He was buried by a citizen. This soldier was possibly a member of the 5th or 6th US Colored Cavalry who participated in Stoneman’s Raid into Southwest Virginia, which lasted from December 10 to December 29, 1864.

Of the 27 remains located in Johnson County, which excludes the unknown Confederate burial, 26 were taken to New Albany National Cemetery in Indiana. One soldier was left in his original grave, by request of family or friends. Most of the men were re-interred in Sections A and B, with the exception of the US colored soldier who were laid to rest in Section C. 

Links of Interest

Roll of honor; names of soldiers who died in defense of the American union, interred in the national [and other] cemeteries. 27 volumes. (Available on Hathi Trust Digital Library)

Burial Ledgers. The National Cemetery Administration, Washington, D.C. (Original records transferred to NARA: Burial Registers, compiled 1867-2006, documenting the period 1831-2006. ARC ID: 5928352. Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773–2007, Record Group 15. National Archives at Washington, D.C. (Available on Ancestry.com) 

Nationwide Gravesite Locator
National Cemetery Administration, US Department of Veterans Affairs

New Albany National Cemetery
New Albany, Indiana

Researched, compiled and written by Marlitta H. Perkins. Originally published in 2018 by the Johnson County Kentucky Historical Society. Published on-line April 2022. This specific article is under full copyright. Copyright © 2018, 2022, All Rights Reserved.