|
John Subra's Final Resting Place - Marietta National Cemetery, Marietta, Georgia |
|
John Subra, my great-great uncle, was the eldest child of Stephen and Francis [Bera] Subra. He enlisted twice into the Union Army during the Civil War, and gave his life in that service. His brother (and my great-great grandfather), Stephen, joined and served with the Wisconsin 2nd Cavalry, survived the war, and lived to marry and pass on the Subra name, as the sole-surviving son. At his first enlistment on 07 September 1861, John claimed residence in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. He served with rank as a private in G Co. 10th Inf Reg. WI. He was discharged with a disability 09 July 1862 (Source: Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers: War of the Rebellion, published by in 1886). John enlisted again on 30 March 1864, claiming residence in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. He served with the rank of Private in H Co. 21st Inf Reg. WI. He was killed at Dallas, GA on 31 May 1864. (Source: Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers: War of the Rebellion, published by in 1886). His name is engraved on a beautiful war memorial in Sheybogan Falls with many other soldiers from that area. I had almost no hope of finding John's grave, as many Civil War soldiers were buried in unmarked graves. In August of 2003, I posted a query on a few web sites that focused on the Civil War, giving the information that I had (above). Within a day or two, I had excellent leads, and within a short time, I had narrowed down my educated guess to Marietta National Cemetery. This cemetery, according to one of my leads, was where General Sherman had buried his slain troops. I searched the web for the 21st Regiment of the Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and found their history, including a record of battles and casualties. John was listed, along with others from his regiment that were killed on 31 May 1864: Killed or died or wounds: Company H - Privates William Peters and John Subra. Company I - Private John Robinson. Company K - Privates George Leurville and John Smith. - 5 total. I soon found a web site that listed many of the thousands of those interred at that very cemetery. Though John was not listed, but at least two men from his unit were listed. Amazingly, the plot numbers of these two men (C-1881 and C-1883) were listed with a gap of one between. I searched the entire site to find the plot in the middle, but the web did not list anyone for the "missing" plot number (C-1882).
Peters, Wm,
d. 05/31/1864, PVT H 21 WIS INF, Orig Bur New Hope Ch Ga, Plot: C 1883, * I found a phone number on the site, which I called. The person at the other end gave me the direct number to the Marietta National Cemetery. I called, and the caretaker (a swell man named Jim Trapp) did a search and within minutes, found John Subra listed - in Plot C-1882! Jim then offered to take pictures and e-mail them to me, when he was able. This he graciously did. See below! Thanks, Jim! What is amazing to me is that I have driven within mere miles of this expansive cemetery many times, traveling back and forth from Iowa while stationed in Ft. Stewart, Georgia while serving in the US Army in the early 1980's. It truly is a small world! Though I haven't visited the site, I hope to some day. I desire to take a week or two and visit "Subra sites" (Cape Vincent, NY; Fond du Lac, WI; this cemetery) to do more research. Pictures are great, but there's something mystically awesome about being "where they walked". Click on the pictures below. Each will open up a new page with a much larger view. Close the page with the big picture to return here. Thanks for stopping by! |
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|||||
