May 24, 1862: The Newark Daily Advertiser printed the following story: “The Bodies of Deceased Soldiers. – Mr. S.S. Davis of this city [Newark, NJ], has just returned from Fortress Monroe, whither he had gone to procure the body of Samuel S. Crosswell, of the 8th Regiment, who was killed at the battle of Williamsburg. He was unable to get it however, Gen. McClellan having issued orders that no bodies should be exhumed till further orders from him. Bodies which had reached Yorktown and Fortress Monroe on the way home were stopped and buried there. An undertaker from Jersey City, and a delegation of the Paterson Common Council, who had gone on to recover the bodies of the dead from those cities have returned without accomplishing their object. The Government has not the facilities or the necessary transports to remove the bodies at present. It is probable that in the fall, if not before, opportunities will be afforded to remove remains. The graves of all the buried are marked so as to be easily distinguished.”
For the most part, Civil War soldiers were buried where they fell. Few bodies were ever actually returned home for final interment.
