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“Jesus Christ is the firstborn from the dead; glory and kingship be His for ever and ever.” Revelation 1:5
Historian's Corner
Kelly Grimaldi, Historian, Albany Diocesan Cemeteries
St. Agnes Cemetery Honors the Memory of Civil War Soldiers Resting In Its Sacred Ground
The Civil War took the lives of approximately 364,000 Union soldiers. It is estimated that one third were killed or died shortly after being wounded and two thirds died of diseases such as dysentery, typhoid fever, malaria, pneumonia and arthritis. Historic St. Agnes Cemetery of Menands is the final resting place for 487 Civil War veterans. The guns and cannon of the war long quiet; there is nothing to disturb their eternal peace. Only a small percentage of veterans interred here were actually killed in the Civil War as the cemetery was not consecrated until two years after it ended, however, to date we have identified 22 Catholic soldiers who died during the war that were removed to St. Agnes Cemetery from other burial grounds in and around Albany. Among those removed from their original graves are three young men of the 177th Regiment, New York State Infantry , Bernard Cain, James Claffey and Thomas Ray who all died in 1863 – four years before St. Agnes came to be. The 177th lost a total of 161 men of which 149 died from diseases between December 1862 when they marched to Louisiana until they mustered out in early fall of the next year. Private Bernard Cain was only 19 when he succumbed to “swamp fever” a bacterial infection that is now easily treatable with antibiotics. Privates James Claffey and Thomas Ray were barely out of their teens when their lives ended most likely as a result of the same illness that took their comrade. Private Claffey died September 10th – the same day the 177th mustered out and began the long trip home to Albany. He was only 22 years old.
Gravestone inscriptions and cemetery records serve as historic documents attesting to the sad fact that many soldiers survived the war only to die in their 20s, 30s and 40s from complications caused by old wounds and amputations or from the lingering effect of diseases they initially survived. The average life span of Civil War veterans buried in St. Agnes Cemetery is only 56 years – young by today’s standard. A few dozen hearty souls were blessed with long lives despite their war experience. Two Irish soldiers, James Hennessy and Bernard Donahue, are among the oldest veterans interred in St. Agnes Cemetery having lived to age 88. Corporal John (Fay) Smith who rests in an unmarked grave is the last veteran to be buried here in 1929. He was 81 years old. Interestingly, we did not know of Mr. Smith’s veteran status until by chance one of his ancestors found me in the cemetery excavating another Civil War veteran’s gravestone from under a thick layer of sod. He told me the story of a young man who entered the war in its last year to serve as a corporal in Company D of the 192 Infantry and later sent me the soldier’s pension application and military service record. Corporal John (Fay) Smith will be among the first to receive a gravestone noting his service to his country in time of war.
To respect the memory of our Civil War veterans resting here in this beautiful and serene historic cemetery, we are working on a project to restore their gravestones by resetting and cleaning them or ordering replacement stones in cases where the original stone is broken or illegible. Those soldiers interred in unmarked graves will be memorialized with a new white marble stone furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs. This worthy project was conceptualized by Rick Touchette, Director of Diocesan Cemeteries (The Cemetery Guy) in 2007 and it continues to be a major focus of our historic preservation efforts. We are very grateful to our team of dedicated volunteers who have given many hours of service towards preserving the memory of all those who fought to keep our states united and our country strong. If you would like to be part of our preservation efforts and honor our veterans in a unique way, please contact me at 463-0134 ext. 110 or via email KellyAnn.Grimaldi@rcda.org.
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