Confederate soldier honored at final resting place in Aurelia
By Tim Gallagher, Journal staff writer | Posted: Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Veteran Charles Wharton of Aurelia, Iowa, looks at the grave of his great uncle, George M. Miller, a Confederate Army veteran buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery southwest of Aurelia. Miller is the lone Confederate Army veteran buried here. (Photo by Tim Gallagher)
AURELIA, Iowa -- Staff Sgt. Louis DeRoos of the Iowa Army National Guard took the microphone Monday morning at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Aurelia and shared some history on the origin of Memorial Day.
AURELIA, Iowa -- Staff Sgt. Louis DeRoos of the Iowa Army National Guard took the microphone Monday morning at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Aurelia and shared some history on the origin of Memorial Day.
"Just after the Civil War had ended, a group of Southern women visited the cemetery in Columbus, Miss., to decorate the graves of the sons and fathers who had died serving in the Confederacy," said DeRoos, an Aurelia resident. "When they were done, they saw that nearby Union graves were unattended, drab and forgotten. These ladies could not bring themselves to ignore the graves of the fallen Northern men. Carefully, they decorated the Union graves until there was nothing to distinguish them from those of the Confederates."
His opening struck a chord with me. I’d driven to Aurelia to find the grave of George Marcus Miller, a Confederate Army veteran buried here; one of few Confederate soldiers I’ve heard of buried in these parts.
"George Miller was born in Edinburg, Va.," said Charles Wharton, an 83-year-old Aurelia native and Miller’s great nephew. "He enlisted in the Confederate Army when he was 17 years old and served four years."
Wharton, a World War II veteran who patched bombers when they returned from missions in the Pacific, helped put up the 125 flags and 200 crosses at the cemetery Monday.
He reported to the sparkling new $1.3 million Aurelia Community Center at 4:45 a.m. to fry eggs for Aurelia High School students and local American Legion members who volunteered at the cemetery.
Wharton also treated me to lunch and pointed out some of his town’s finest, men like Paul Jones, 91, a World War II veteran who earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star; and Forrest Kohrt, 86, a U.S. Navy veteran who survived at sea two days after his ship, the USS Gambier Bay, sank under enemy fire.
Kohrt, then 21, floated on wood and a cork net for 60 miles in shark-infested waters while treating his right arm that had been hit by shrapnel in the blast.
Kohrt was saved by a small boat captained by Harlan Mohn, a man who later practiced law in nearby Cherokee.
"The water temperature was warm, which saved us," said Kohrt, a retired county extension agent. "After being rescued, I was taken to a hospital and they spent a year fixing my arm. They did a good job."
It was humbling to share their company this day.
About George M. Miller
And just as humbling to scan an unfinished memoir penned by George Miller two decades after the Civil War. At the time, Miller worked in the lumber/furniture business in Aurelia and Storm Lake. He’d come to Aurelia in 1881 to work at the lumberyard in Aurelia, an enterprise owned by his brother.
Miller wrote of joining his "Southern Grays" at the start of the Civil War and swelling with pride. He detailed his unit’s struggle to find food and water and wrote of frequent sprints to creeks to fill canteens hanging from his shoulders and belt.
He took two Union prisoners at the First Battle of Bull Run at Manassas. The first, a wounded soldier, was eternally grateful Miller didn’t shoot him immediately.
Union soldiers, he later wrote, were led to believe men like Miller were more barbaric than just.
His second prisoner was a "Yankee lieutenant" who refused to surrender to anyone of a lesser rank. Miller convinced the officer he had no choice.
Later, the tables were turned on the young Virginian. He was taken prisoner twice and wounded in the head with a musket shot. His granddaughter related to Wharton that for the rest of his life, Miller suffered frequent headaches and eventually lost most of his vision and hearing.
But, he survived. He married Frances C. Vincent in 1868 and together they raised four children. Frances died 11 years after their move here and was buried at Pleasant Hill a mile south of this Cherokee County town.
Miller moved back to Virginia and resided at Edinburg until his death at age 76 on Aug. 16, 1919. His wishes for a burial next to his wife were honored and that’s where he’s been for 89 years.
On Monday, I found his grave with Wharton’s help. The site was decorated with a white cross, a red flower arrangement and a U.S. flag.
Looking just like the graves of those soldiers on the Union side; not drab and not forgotten.
AURELIA, Iowa -- Staff Sgt. Louis DeRoos of the Iowa Army National Guard took the microphone Monday morning at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Aurelia and shared some history on the origin of Memorial Day.
"Just after the Civil War had ended, a group of Southern women visited the cemetery in Columbus, Miss., to decorate the graves of the sons and fathers who had died serving in the Confederacy," said DeRoos, an Aurelia resident. "When they were done, they saw that nearby Union graves were unattended, drab and forgotten. These ladies could not bring themselves to ignore the graves of the fallen Northern men. Carefully, they decorated the Union graves until there was nothing to distinguish them from those of the Confederates."
His opening struck a chord with me. I’d driven to Aurelia to find the grave of George Marcus Miller, a Confederate Army veteran buried here; one of few Confederate soldiers I’ve heard of buried in these parts.
"George Miller was born in Edinburg, Va.," said Charles Wharton, an 83-year-old Aurelia native and Miller’s great nephew. "He enlisted in the Confederate Army when he was 17 years old and served four years."
Wharton, a World War II veteran who patched bombers when they returned from missions in the Pacific, helped put up the 125 flags and 200 crosses at the cemetery Monday.
He reported to the sparkling new $1.3 million Aurelia Community Center at 4:45 a.m. to fry eggs for Aurelia High School students and local American Legion members who volunteered at the cemetery.
Wharton also treated me to lunch and pointed out some of his town’s finest, men like Paul Jones, 91, a World War II veteran who earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star; and Forrest Kohrt, 86, a U.S. Navy veteran who survived at sea two days after his ship, the USS Gambier Bay, sank under enemy fire.
Kohrt, then 21, floated on wood and a cork net for 60 miles in shark-infested waters while treating his right arm that had been hit by shrapnel in the blast.
Kohrt was saved by a small boat captained by Harlan Mohn, a man who later practiced law in nearby Cherokee.
"The water temperature was warm, which saved us," said Kohrt, a retired county extension agent. "After being rescued, I was taken to a hospital and they spent a year fixing my arm. They did a good job."
It was humbling to share their company this day.
About George M. Miller
And just as humbling to scan an unfinished memoir penned by George Miller two decades after the Civil War. At the time, Miller worked in the lumber/furniture business in Aurelia and Storm Lake. He’d come to Aurelia in 1881 to work at the lumberyard in Aurelia, an enterprise owned by his brother.
Miller wrote of joining his "Southern Grays" at the start of the Civil War and swelling with pride. He detailed his unit’s struggle to find food and water and wrote of frequent sprints to creeks to fill canteens hanging from his shoulders and belt.
He took two Union prisoners at the First Battle of Bull Run at Manassas. The first, a wounded soldier, was eternally grateful Miller didn’t shoot him immediately.
Union soldiers, he later wrote, were led to believe men like Miller were more barbaric than just.
His second prisoner was a "Yankee lieutenant" who refused to surrender to anyone of a lesser rank. Miller convinced the officer he had no choice.
Later, the tables were turned on the young Virginian. He was taken prisoner twice and wounded in the head with a musket shot. His granddaughter related to Wharton that for the rest of his life, Miller suffered frequent headaches and eventually lost most of his vision and hearing.
But, he survived. He married Frances C. Vincent in 1868 and together they raised four children. Frances died 11 years after their move here and was buried at Pleasant Hill a mile south of this Cherokee County town.
Miller moved back to Virginia and resided at Edinburg until his death at age 76 on Aug. 16, 1919. His wishes for a burial next to his wife were honored and that’s where he’s been for 89 years.
On Monday, I found his grave with Wharton’s help. The site was decorated with a white cross, a red flower arrangement and a U.S. flag.
Looking just like the graves of those soldiers on the Union side; not drab and not forgotten.
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