Unknown Confederate Soldier
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The Unknown Confederate Soldier is located in a tomb in Harrison County, Mississippi dedicated to a Confederate soldier in the American Civil War. The tomb is marked with a marker reading, "Known but to God", which records the death of the soldier. His body was discovered by Rick Forte, Chairman of the Combined Boards of Beauvoir on a battlefield of the Vicksburg Campaign in late 1979. The discovery prompted the establishment of a tomb for the Unknown Confederate Soldier of the Confederate States of America. The tomb is located in the Confederate Veterans Cemetery on the Beauvoir property.
The Officially Recognized Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the Confederate States of America was established on June 6, 1981, at Beauvoir, in Biloxi, Mississippi. The remains were buried there in a cypress casket in 1980.
The remains were carefully authenticated from artifacts accompanying them, but the identity of the soldier, or of his unit, or place of origin is not known. Approval of the plan and official designation was sought and received all recognized Confederate organizations - Sons of Confederate Veterans, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Military Order of the Stars and Bars, and Children of the Confederacy.
On June 6, 1981, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was unveiled. The two sides of the tomb contain the inscription: The Unknown Soldier of the Confederate States of America. The head of the tomb bears the inscription: Known but to God. The Great Seal of the Confederate States of America is placed on top of the tomb, and at the foot of the tomb is the following poem by Father Abram J. Ryan, the poet/priest of the Confederacy:
"Ah! Fearless on many a day for us; They stood in front of the fray for us; And held the foeman at bay for us; And tears should fall; Fore'er o'er all; Who fell wearing the gray for us."
The Sons of Confederate Veterans held ceremonies on May 1, 1983 to award the Confederate Medal of Honor to the Unknown Soldier. The awarding of this medal began in 1976 as a project of the Sons of Confederate Veterans to complete a process begun, but, never consummated by the Confederate Congress. During the war, the Congress had passed measures to honor valor on the battlefield and elsewhere, with President Davis' approval, but medals were never awarded. Conditions for the award were similar to those governing the United States Congressional Medal of Honor. The Unknown Soldier represents the intrepidity and gallantry at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, by unnumbered Confederate soldiers. The Unknown Soldier also represents all who lie in unknown places, and who may be deserving of this medal, although their names and services will never be known. The medal awarded to the Unknown Soldier was on display in the Beauvoir Confederate Museum.
