Civil War Soldiers Buried at Woodland Cemetery

The Library of Virginia holds a copy of a the Ashland, Hanover County, Virginia, Burial book, 1862.

The Library of Virginia holds a small burial book (Local Call Number 21743) showing an inscription which indicates the original ownership/authorship of “Robert T. James  & Bros.” This 74-page book contains information relating to 256 interments conducted in Ashland, VA, during the months of April and May of 1862. These burials consist of soldiers from the “Confederate States” and include three servants and one “Yankee.”  The interments were made in the old Confederate burial ground lying within the Woodland Cemetery, Ashland, VA. Other than a monument placed within the general burial area in 1888 by the Ladies of Ashland Memorial Association, the individual graves remained unidentified and locations unmarked until recent efforts were conducted to identify the interred.

 After 3 1/2 years of research initiated by the discovery of the James Bros. burial book, 235 of the 256 interments have been properly identified. The results of this work have been published in a 283-page book entitled, Leaving Neither Wife, Child Nor Father, authored by James B. Upton. In an effort to further identify the individual grave locations within the Confederate burial ground, the Woodland Cemetery Company initiated a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) study of the area in question and was able to locate 227 of the 256 recorded burials. 

The Woodland Cemetery Company, wishing to protect the area and properly preserve the historical accuracy of burial ground, has made a number of site improvements.  These include relocating interior roadways, removing burial obstructions, installing fencing, placing granite markers on each identified burial location, and erecting a monument on-site which bears the names of all of those who have been identified as a result of the research conducted on the Confederate burial ground. Space is left on the monument to add the names of the remaining unknown should they be identified in the future. Research efforts will continue to identify these interments and make any appropriate enhancements of the burial ground as needed.

See also the related article on the history of Woodland Cemetery.