Of all the veterans buried in Holy Rood Cemetery, Union soldiers form the largest category. For a half century or more, the George U. Morris Post, No. 19, of the GAR on N Street in Georgetown turned out on the morning of Memorial Day, and paraded to the two cemeteries that contained the graves of Union veterans. One of these was Holy Rood, the Catholic cemetery on the northern edge of Georgetown. A priest from Holy Trinity––some of whom, like Fathers Brennan and McAtee, had been Union chaplains during the war––offered the prayers. There was a reading of the Memorial Orders. The cadets of Western High School presented a salute to the dead. The Gettysburg Address was recited. A quartet from the Georgetown University Glee Club might render “Tenting On The Old Camp Ground” “The Soldier and His Boy”, or “Rest, Soldier, Rest”. At the close of the exercises, school children brought baskets of flowers, the graves of Union soldiers were decorated with flags and flowers, and “Taps” floated out on the morning air. (Washington Star, May 28, 1896; Programs of Memorial Day Services in the District of Columbia from 1901 to 1918, Grand Army of the Republic, Department of the Potomac. Library of Congress: E642.G89)

The Grand Army of the Republic made sure not only that every veteran grave in Arlington, but also every Union grave in every civilian cemetery within the jurisdiction of that post, would also be remembered, and receive its due in flowers and flags. Here in Washington, in the waning years of the 19th century, the task of recording every local grave of every Union veteran was entrusted to a man named Richard Goodman, commander of the Charles Sumner Post of the GAR. As a result, in fourteen cemeteries in and around Washington, even the most out-of-the way graves of Union veterans were annually honored. In 1891, Richard Goodman knew of forty Union veterans at Holy Rood. It is possible that some of these forty veterans might have been United States Colored Troops. If they were, Goodman would have known them; as he was a black Civil War veteran himself. (Washington Star (May 30, 1891)

Since there were still many Union veterans alive at that time, the number can only have grown. Unfortunately, only about a dozen of these can be identified today, mostly by the handful of government-issue grave markers scattered here and there in Holy Rood. A few others have been identified by contemporary newspaper items, obituaries, and by inference, from published lists of GAR members. The inability to identify the rest may be attributed to various factors. Some men’s epitaphs make no reference to their service. Some veterans may never have had a stone at all, and some may have had only wooden markers or crosses that have long since crumbled into dust.

It is remarkable that Washington, which abounds in Civil War memorials, has no monument to the local men who served in the war, other than their graves. Even their numbers are hard to come by; most accounts mention only about 3000 three-month men who enlisted to defend the city in 1861, of whom a thousand or so stayed on for the duration. The GAR, on the other hand, credited the District with furnishing a total of 16,534 men: 11,912 soldiers; 3269 Colored Troops; and 1353 sailors and marines. 290 died. While the 1st District of Columbia Infantry Regiment was mainly employed in the defense of the capital, seven companies recruited in the District served elsewhere, under other state designations: the 3rd Maryland Infantry, 1st Maryland Cavalry, 11th New York Cavalry, 71st Pennsylvania Infantry, and the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry; all had a company or more recruited in Washington.. (GAR, Department of the Potomac, Roster of Departments, 1888, p.54)

One of the Union soldiers buried in Holy Rood Cemetery was Capt. Charles H. Rodier, who raised a company of Georgetowners in 1861 to join in the defense of the Washington. Near Chain Bridge the Anderson Rifles––named in honor of the hero of Fort Sumter––are said to have taken the first rebel prisoners of the war. Capt. Rodier died the following year, at age forty-three, after being shot in the leg accidentally. His widow apparently could not afford a tombstone.

Another local volunteer was Thomas Henry French, who started the war as First Sergeant of the Tenallytown Rifles. In the 10th U.S. Infantry French was wounded at Petersburg, and rose to the rank of Captain. After the war, he joined the 7th Cavalry, and went west. In the disaster on the Little Bighorn, Capt. French and his men fought a running battle four miles east of Custer’s Last Stand, and came away with their lives. French saw action again in the Nez Perces War, took to drink, and died at Ft. Leavenworth, at age thirty-nine. His remains were brought home by his Tenleytown relations.

Of the rest, hardly anything is known. Those who died during the war probably died in a local hospital. One epitaph in Holy Rood records how long it took one man to die.

Peter Kelley, Co. A, 2nd U.S. Infy., born in Kings County, Ireland, died September 22, 1862 from wounds received at the battle of Bull Run, Va. August 29, 1862, Aged 42 years. Erected by his dear wife, Mary Kelley.

Some were from Georgetown, and came home and resumed their civilian lives. Others, born elsewhere, settled here after the war. That men from other states were plentiful in the ranks of the local GAR goes without saying. Whatever their origin, each year they gathered at the graves of their comrades-in-arms, until, one year, a Memorial Day dawned when all of them were in the ground.

The following Union veteran graves can still be identified:

John W. Potter 5th Sergeant, 1st District of Columbia Infantry (Section 12, stone fallen)

Private William P. Smith Company D, 2nd U.S. Infantry died 1888? (Section 13)

Captain Charles Henry Rodier Organizer of the Anderson Rifles Georgetown, April 13, 1861 1st District of Columbia Infantry Died April 3, 1862 (Section 15?)

Private Peter Kelley Co. A, 2nd U.S. Infantry Died of wounds received at Bull Run, 1862 (Section 18)

John Moran Company C, 8th U.S. Infantry (Section 20?)

Thomas Henry French 1st Sergeant, Tenallytown Rifles Captain, 10th U.S. Infantry Wounded at Petersburg, 1864 7th U.S. Cavalry, 1871-1880 Died 1882 (Section 23)

Private Patrick C. Meer Company B, 2nd U.S. Infantry, Mexican War Company F, 73rd Ohio Infantry, Civil War Died July 29, 1865 (Section 24)

Lieutenant Nelson T. Smith Company H, 11th Maine Infantry (Section 28?)

Private Edward Green Boyd’s Company (organized 1861) 1st Battalion, District of Columbia Infantry (Section 30)

Private Peter M. Farley Company M, 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry Died April 27, 1871 (Section 30)

John J. Southey Georgetown GAR Born 1841, Canterbury, England Died April 1, 1916 (Section 41)

Private Thomas Burke Company H, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry (Company A, 1st Battalion, District of Columbia Infantry?) (Section 44)

Private William H. Correll Company H, 1st District of Columbia Infantry Died 1906 (Section 52)

Private Peter McGirr Company K, 23rd Pennsylvania Infantry (Birney’s Zouaves) Died 1899 (Section 55)

Holy Rood Cemetery I - origin, Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown
Holy Rood Cemetery II - transfer to the Archdiocese of Washington, 1942
Holy Rood Cemetery III - no room at the inn & digging up the dead, 1984
Joseph Nevitt - Minuteman & revolutionary war veteran
Slave Burials - for those too poor to even own themselves
The Unquiet Grave of Susan Decature - converted to Cathaloicism, buried on Georgetown University grounds, relocated to Holy Rood and then exhumed and buried a third and final time in Philadelphia. The other 900 bodies originally buried with her on the Georgetown campus are landfill somewhere.
Union Veterans
Confederate Veterans