MonticelloLive

On Monday, April 14, at 4:15, the following members of the Col. Wm. F.  Slemons Chapter # 977 of Monticello, AR, met at the Campground Cemetery  north of Monticello to clean the graves of the unknown Confederate soldiers  buried there: Jan West, Connie Mullis, Sue Johnson, Annette Rawls, Beth  Thurman, and Terri Wolfe. The unknown soldiers were in the hospital that was  located at Campground during the War Between the States, and they died  during this time.  There are four graves, and no one has ever been able to  ascertain their names. After the grave cleaning, Sue Johnson put a wreath on
the graves.  Next, Beth Thurman led the group in prayer, and the group sang  “Dixie.”

Then the ladies went to Oakland City Cemetery in Monticello and placed a  wreath at the Confederate Monument. Thurman led the group in a responsive  reading, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Lord’s Prayer.  They ended their  dedication by singing, “Amazing Grace.”  The placing of the wreaths was all  done as a part of the UDC’s annual remembrance of the soldiers who fought  and died during the War Between the States. It was the month of April in  1865 that General Robert Edward Lee surrendered his troops to General  Ulysses S. Grant.