Many people in the Northeast are familiar with the “Rural Cemetery.” One of the most famous is Greenwood in Brooklyn. Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston is another well-known example, and Mount Auburn is believed to be the oldest Rural Cemetery in the United States. Unlike the simple and austere churchyard cemetery, the Rural Cemetery is often on rugged terrain, with extensive plantings of trees and bushes. Rustic paths through the cemeteries made this cities of the dead into informal parks for strolls through nature. Stylized buildings looking towards a rural past are common in these urban-adjacent cemeteries.
Although the Albany Rural Cemetery is only a couple of miles from the state capitol, travelling through it makes the visitor think of an Adirondack state park. Hills, trails, streams and ponds are seen throughout the cemetery.
Birds and wildlife can be glimpsed along the roads. Fish and frogs are in the flowing waters.
The entrance I went in is on State Route 376
The graves right after I entered are mostly modern and from the 20th and 21st centuries. Driving towards the Soldiers’ Lot, I crossed a creek and entered into the 19th Century section of the burying ground. The photo below is of a group of Union soldiers buried together outside of the Soldiers’ Lot.
I found quite a few Union veterans scattered through this area, like this cavalryman Henry Cole.
I was walking along looking at other Union graves, identifiable by their rounded tops, when I saw a GAR marker signifying this was placed decades ago by the Grand Army of the Republic.
It marked the grave of Frank Gardner, a Black soldier in the 20th United States Colored Troops (USCT). He died two decades after the Civil War in 1887. The 20th USCT was organized in New York City in 1864 and served in the region along the Gulf of Mexico.
The grave behind him is also a Black Union veteran.
Nearby was the grave of a veteran of the 93rd New York Infantry Regiment, known as “Morgan Rifles.” This was an Albany regiment organized in the Fall of 1861 that served with the IV and II Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Braman was a twenty-one year old when he joined the regiment.
Then I drove a short distance to the Soldiers’ Lot, where the monument is located. It was a cold and rainy January morning at around 7:30 AM when I visited. The Grand Army of the Republic monument overlooking the graves in the Soldiers’ Lot is fifteen feet tall and in excellent condition. The Soldiers’ Lot only contains the graves of men cared for in the Albany hospitals who came from a number of different states, but the monument commemorate men from Albany who died in the war. Each grave had a flag, placed on Veterans’ Day, and Christmas wreath.
The Soldiers’ Lot is on a hill overlooking the Hudson Valley.
In addition to the statue, there is a flagpole, a marker and an interpretive panel from the Veterans Administration. While Albany Rural Cemetery is not a Veterans cemetery, the Soldiers’ Lot is.
Here is a view of the statue facing the 149 graves.
This plaque is set between the statue and the graves.
The Albany Rural Cemetery was opened in 1844. In 1862, the cemetery donated the small, 1/5 of an acre Soldiers Lot for the use of the army to bury soldiers who died in the city’s hospitals. In 1873 the bronze statue on a granite base was dedicated. It is located on North Ridge Road at Lot 7, Section 75 in the cemetery. Small ceremonies are held at the site every year and occasionally tours of Civil War graves are offered.
The monument itself is beautifully crafted, with fine work on the features of the soldier depicted. Below the soldier are bas relief of Abraham Lincoln. Below Lincoln are the names of local men who died in service during the war.
Each side contains at least 150 names of the war dead. In 1860, the city had a population of 62,000 people.
The impact of so many deaths for a small city is unimaginable.
By the time of the Civil War, families of Dutch and Germans and English with roots in Colonial days were swelled by more recently arrived Irish immigrants. Albany also had an enslaved Black population from Colonial times and through the first three decades of the early Republic. By the late 1820s, all Blacks in Albany were free. A small Black community made up a few percent of the population.
The statue depicts a soldier clutching a musket, at parade rest.
The grounds are beautiful and evocative.
The details of the soldier’s face, hands, and clothing were memorable.
Lincoln’s image is exquisite.
I walked through the Soldiers’ Lot to offer a prayer over the dead. Each grave is numbered consecutively indicating the order in which they were buried. Number 3 was Joseph H. Drake of the 71st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Drake was a private who enlisted on June 6, 1861. He died on July 14, 1862, of wounds received in action. The 71st Pennsylvania was part of the Philadelphia Brigade of the Army of the Potomac. Given his date of death, it is likely he was wounded during the Peninsula Campaign, though I could not find anything conclusive.
Also scattered throughout the Soldiers’ Lot were graves of unknown soldiers. These were often men taken off the battlefield in Virginia and shipped to Albany for care who were unable to communicate even their names.
Joseph Maguire was a musician in the 63rd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. This was a regiment of the Irish Brigade of the II Corps Army of the Potomac.
The 7th New York Militia was a unit often identified as “elite” because its soldiers came from the professional and monied classes. Poor George Tschumper was in the 7th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, a completely different regiment. This mostly German immigrant regiment was mustered in in April 1861, right after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter. Nicknamed the “Steuben Guard,” the two-year regiment served with the Army of the Potomac through the Battle of Chancellorsville.
Frederick Lawdenslager is listed in a local registry as having enlisted in the 1st Maryland Volunteer Infantry and moving on to the 22 Veteran Reserve.
The 21st New Jersey was a regiment organized on September 15, 1862. In June, 1863, it was mustered out. Charles Rose was not.
Not all the men who died in Albany’s hospitals were soldiers.
For James McNeil, we know his rank, Corporal, but not his unit.
Joseph Patterson was from Maryland.
Below is the grave of F. Wunschemeyer of the 46th New York Infantry. The 46th, was called the Fremont Rifles. It was one of New York’s “German regiments.” It was mustered into service in New York City in the Summer of 1861. The 46th New York was assigned to the IX Corps for most of its service, and fought in most of the major battles of the Army of the Potomac. In 1863 it was sent West for a time, fighting in the Siege of Vicksburg, and moving on to East Tennessee to protect the region from Confederate attempts to retake it. I was able to find his name on the Muster Roll of the 46th New York. His first name was Friedrich and he was 32 years old when he mustered in.
The Veterans Administration has an interpretive panel in this small veterans cemetery.
After an hour, it was time to head back to my conference. The lovely, touching, final resting place of these young men will leave me with memories of sorrow and peace.
Heading out through the cemetery I passed through the serenity of the woods…
…and headed past the entrance house back into the 21st Century.
Note: All color photos taken by Pat Young.
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