What could one buy for a dollar in 1868? The US built National cemeteries in the most fashionable parts of many southern cities (Fredericksburg VA is a good example although the prime example is Arlington Cemetery on Robert E Lee’s front lawn) and they filled them up with dead US soldiers. CS troops were mostly buried in mass graves and if bulldozers had been invented at the time, it would have been worse. Then there was a President named US Grant, and if you know anything about his time as a General in the War, you can bet he had definite feelings about what should be done with Southern bodies. He saw CS troops as deserters and thought they should be buried in unmarked graves. The really stupid thing is that if John Wilkes Booth had not assassinated Lincoln, I believe the South would have been better off. When Robert E Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Lincoln was still alive and the next day went to Richmond to sit in Jefferson Davis’ chair in the Southern White House. Lee surrendered on April 9, and Lincoln was assassinated on Aril 15. Before his death, he instructed Grant to let CS soldiers keep their arms if they signed an oath promising not to take up arms against the US.AFAIK, few if any violated that oath. On May 1, 2014, at 11:52 AM, Trevor Cunningham wrote:
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