September 5, 1864

Today, September 5th in 1864, Union forces left smoldering Atlanta in their rear view mirror. Those left behind were sick and dying and many ended their days in Griffin, at the end of what was left of a railroad line.

Just as you enter Griffin on Hwy. 16, look to your right and nestled under some cedar trees is the Stonewall Cemetery where 499 Confederate soldiers and one Union soldier are buried underneath gray marble stones. A statue of an angel just past the entrance gate stands on a pedestal with the inscription, “Rest, Soldiers, Rest” and now they do forever.

The gravestones tell the names, ages, the date of death and states of the soldiers. Age 18, age 24, age 21, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, young men caught in a war that ended for them in Griffin. Many of the graves have September 5th as the date of their death.

From what we know of the makeshift hospitals, there was no medicine, no bandages, nothing to relieve the pain as they lay dying. No family or friends at their side or even to receive their bodies when dead, no closure like the gate that guards this place.

Their sacrifice, their future was sealed beneath the cedars and oaks guarded by the angel who never forgets, “Rest, Soldiers, Rest” as the cars speed by.