Explore Cicero’s Civil War past this July 4

Cicero Cemetery is the final resting place for 63 Civil War veterans. What might look like a serene graveyard on the edge of town holds the stories of some very interesting soldiers, including one who was a prison-of-war guard during a prison riot, one who was captured and one who was a Confederate draft dodger.

Civil War veterans’ graves are abundant throughout the state of Indiana. That’s because there were a lot of men who enlisted as volunteers during the war. Just over 210,000 Hoosier men became soldiers. Most of them were volunteers, but some were conscripted. Ten percent of the Union’s 2.1 million soldiers and sailors came from Indiana. However, not all the soldiers buried in Hamilton County resided here when the war broke out. Many of the people who relocated here after the war were veterans, including some who fought for the Confederacy.

That was the case with George Williams. He was born in North Carolina and was a Quaker who did not believe in slavery or taking up arms. However, at the age of 17, was conscripted to serve in the Confederate Army on the 26th North Carolina Battalion, Company C. That unit was known as Freeman’s Battalion and were made guards at Salisbury Prison. On November 25, 1864, that overcrowded prisoner-of-war stockade was the site for a riot. Desperately hungry and sick, Union prisoners attacked guards and secured weapons before the Confederates fired artillery grapeshot into the melee, killing 81 prisoners.

The following April, Salisbury Prison was attacked by the Union cavalry led by General George Stoneman. Freeman’s Battalion and local residents tried to put up a fight, but were defeated. After the war, George Williams moved to Hamilton County.

Bird’s Eye View of the Confederate Prison Pen at Salisbury, N.C., 1864. (Illustration by C.A. Kraus)

William H.C. Buzan was born in Indiana. In 1862, he enlisted in the 68th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to defend a Union supply garrison at Munfordville, Ky. On September 12, 1862, Confederates attacked the garrison. Two days later, Colonel John Wilder surrendered and Buzan was among the 4,000 Union soldiers who laid down their arms. Buzan and the other prisoners were later paroled and sent to Indianapolis. The 68th Indiana regrouped and was sent back to the war in Middle Tennessee.

James Crooks was born in South Carolina. When he was 17 years old, he was conscripted into the Confederate Army, but he was loyal to the Union and did not want to fight for the rebel cause. He fled north to Tennessee to dodge the draft. It was here that he met a group of Tennessee men who were fighting for the Union as the 13th Tennessee Cavalry. He joined them and rose to the rank of corporal. After the war, he became a barn builder and moved to Hamilton County. Even though he was a southerner, his cemetery marker proudly states that he was a Union soldier.

If you would like to hear more stories like these, I will be leading a Civil War Veterans Walking Tour of Cicero Cemetery at 1 p.m. on July 4. To register for the event, browse to yaney.net/history-tours.