Gravestone for Private Bridgeman Hollister of the 16th Connecticut in tiny Wassaic Cemetery in Glastonbury, Conn. Bridgeman was mortally wounded at the Battle of Antietam. |
The gravestone for Bridgeman J. Hollister in Antietam National Cemetery. |
In tiny Wassaic Cemetery in Glastonbury, two markers for Hollister may be found: a small, state-issued gravestone placed in the 1930s and a large, slate-gray gravestone on which family members' names are inscribed.
A document in the Glastonbury (Conn.) Historical Society indicates Hollister's remains were indeed returned to Connecticut. Signed by town sexton Holcey Buck, it notes that Brigman (sic) Hollister was buried at Wassuc (also known as Wassaic) Cemetery on Jan. 17, 1863. Under place of death, Buck wrote "The Battle Antitum."
So if Hollister is buried in Glastonbury, who's really buried under marker No, 1,104 at the national cemetery in Sharpsburg? Or is that grave really empty?
Of course, this wouldn't be the first misidentified gravestone at Antietam. Private Oliver Case of the 8th Connecticut was shot through head and killed as his regiment was overwhelmed near Harpers Ferry Road, just outside Sharpsburg. His father, Job, retrieved his body from the battlefield and returned his son's remains to Simsbury for burial in the town cemetery. But in the Connecticut section at the national cemetery in Sharpsburg, the name O.C. Case is carved on gravestone No, 1,090. Who's really buried under that tombstone?
According to this document, Bridgeman Hollister's remains were buried by Glastonbury sexton Holcey Buck in Wassaic Cemetery on Jan. 17, 1863. (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.) |
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