The Unpublished Roll of Honor
by Mark Hughes
One of the 8,500 Soldiers Listed in
the Unpublished Roll of Honor
In 1865 the U.S. Quartermaster's Department published the first
volume of the Roll of Honor series, a work designed to commemorate
the Union dead in the Civil war. By 1871, when the twenty-seventh
and final volume was published, the series had named over 228,000
Union soldiers who were buried in national cemeteries, post cemeteries,
soldier's lots, and private cemeteries. But astonishingly, the
Roll of Honor was incomplete, and for 130 years it remained incomplete
and all but forgotten. Now, however the twenty-seven volumes have
been reprinted (and indexed) and, thanks to Mark Hughes, who has
uncovered additional burials, the series has finally been completed.
This "Unpublished" Roll of Honor is based largely on
materials Mr. Hughes discovered at the National Archives, including
records of national cemeteries omitted from the original series,
records of headstone requests (often for soldiers who were buried
in private cemeteries), and records of post cemeteries that eluded
the original compilers. All told, something like 8,500 men are
listed here with (usually) their rank, company, and unit. The
data is arranged by state and therein alphabetically by cemetery,
and all names are conveniently listed in the index.
Following the lead of the original Roll of Honor, this work also
includes the names of soldiers who were buried in post cemeteries
on the western frontier, and it sometimes lists the names of civilians
who were buried in post cemeteries--usually soldiers' wives or
children. For institutions and individuals who own copies of the
original Roll and the new Index, this is a "must buy"
companion volume.
The Unpublished Roll of Honor contains 341 pages, including a
name index. The book is cloth bound.
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