This gravestone marks the burial site of a Confederate cavalryman whose body washed up along the western riverbank of the Susquehanna River in June 1863. Contemporary newspaper accounts indicate that a Rebel scout drowned while trying to ford the rain-swollen river near York Haven. His body washed downstream and was found by locals and buried here. Hurricane Agnes in 1972 supposedly washed away the bones.
Photo 2009 by Dr. Thomas Mingus, looking east at the Susquehanna River with Lancaster County in the background.
In late September 2011, rushing floodwaters severely damaged this site. The memorial stone is gone (hopefully salvaged by a local landowner who maintains this area).
Here’s what the site now looks like as of October 8, 2011, courtesy of Tropical Storm Lee and Hurricane Irene.
The rocks are from the water rushing into the Susquehanna from a nearby stream, which overflowed its banks and sent a torrent of water straight at the old Civil War Confederate grave site. The headstone took several direct hits.
The caretaker has cleared away some of the rocks and placed a CSA flag by the base of the memorial marker. Kudos to him!
The site is 1.2 miles north of the Accomac Inn in Hellam Township, York County, Pennsylvania (north of Wrightsville and U.S. Route 30).
Scott L. Mingus, Sr. is a scientist and executive in the paper and printing industry, as well as the author of several books and magazine articles on the Civil War, including some that deal primarily with York County during the Gettysburg Campaign.
This Cannonball blog presents stories and anecdotes from the war years, as well as announcing local Civil War events of the modern day.
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That was indeed a sad discovery we all made today after your excellent tour.
I remember on the last tour stop in front of John Wright’s rest. we were talking about how the water reached the trash can, and thinking, what happened to the Confederate Grave. That will have to be a new fundrasing project (to restore it) for one of the local Civil War organizations.
I came upon this headstone back in ’97 on a cycle ride by the river but never came to know the full story. Never got back to see it again either. Thanks for filling in that gap in my knowledge. Sad to see it go. Cooper is right. It needs to be restored. Keep us posted should an effort toward restoration & replacement is made.
In a recent reply to the York Town Square blog, I noted that the Grave of the Confederate Soldier that is along the Susquehanna River west of Accomac had a previous metal marker denoted only with the letters C S A. My Smith grandparents had a bungalow along the Susquehanna River west of Accomac. We always had large group gatherings and sleepovers during the summer. One tradition was a long walk each weekend. For those times that we walked upriver to Wildcat Falls, we always passed the C S A marker along the road, next to Dugan Run. The metal marker was on a metal stake and usually had at least one small confederate flag beside it. This metal marker washed away during Hurricane Agnes in 1972. The floodwaters of 1972 actually washed away much of the ground where the metal marker originally stood. After 1972, the grave was marked with a small confederate and/or US flag on occasions and an adjacent oil drum next to it for some protection. During 1988 a granite marker was placed; the one which was washed away by floodwaters of 2011. Since the metal C S A marker may have been a standard one as placed on Confederate Veterans Graves, would any Sons of Confederate Veterans type organizations potentially have some information when the previous metal C S A marker was placed (the one I had seen during the 1950s and 1960s)? Would that placing organization have some additional information on the soldier buried in the grave? When was the grave first marked? How many grave markers have been washed away by floodwaters? During a recent walk along River Road, I saw that a tastefully done temporary white plywood marker is now on the gravesite. A photo of the temporary grave marker is on the May 18, 2012 York Town Square blog by Jim McClure http://www.yorkblog.com/yorktownsquare/
Ivan Frantz and the local SCV continues to struggle to find enough early documentation of the Rebel’s death and burial to satisfy the U.S. government to get them to pay for a standard veterans marker.