The sheer number of men killed, wounded or missing in those engagements is difficult to grasp. According to the National Park Service, the toll at Vicksburg, after a forty-seven day siege of the city and fight for control of the Mississippi River, was 37,532 killed, wounded, captured or missing. At Gettysburg, which, ironically, ended just one day before the surrender of Vicksburg, some 51,000 souls were killed, wounded or missing.
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| Photo taken in Bedford, PA of the headstone of a Union soldier killed in battle on March 28, 1862. |
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| The Missouri monument is the only monument at Vicksburg that pays homage to both Union and Confederate forces. Northern and southern troops from Missouri fought each other at this precise spot. |
As Mike and I read the markers at Vicksburg delineating troop positions and battle lines, I commented that members of my Grandpa’s family fought on both sides of the conflict. I remember as a little girl going with my Mom to the train station to pick up a headstone, supplied by the US Government long after the Civil War, for a family member who had fought with the Confederate forces. The Union soldiers had gravestones provided at the time of their burial by the federal government. Finally, nearly a century after the Civil War, those who fought for the Confederacy could be provided a marker, but only if family members petitioned the government for a stone.
My curiosity about my own family’s history was piqued by our visit to Vicksburg. When we returned home, Mom showed me her copy of a book entitled “The Centennial Biographical Directory of Franklin County, Missouri” (compiled by Herman Kiel and published in 1925) along with copies of family papers. I was intrigued to learn that my grandfather’s paternal grandfather (my great-great grandfather) James had, indeed, fought with the Union, while his maternal grandfather (again, another great-great grandfather) Wilborn was a Confederate soldier. Apparently, from papers that Mom has, including James’ death certificate, Lucinda, James’ widow, received a pension of $30 per month for the remainder of her life as the widow of a Union soldier. On the other hand, Phoebe, Wilborn’s widow, received nothing in the way of a pension or widow’s benefit, since he fought for the Confederacy. Even with that $30 pension, life must have been difficult for Lucinda and her six kids; imagine what it must have been like, with no pension or widow’s benefit, for Phoebe and her eight surviving (of twelve) children.
As we stood on the Vicksburg battlefield I was sobered by the thought that at least one of my relatives could have stood in the same spot. James' regiment had, indeed, fought at Vicksburg, although his death certificate shows that he died on November 5, 1862 in the service of the United States, some six months before the Vicksburg campaign began. Wilborn could have fought there, but we have no record of exactly which unit he was with. We do know, however, that he died in 1869, so he very well could have been in one of the Confederate regiments that Missouri sent to Vicksburg.
Today there are 1,350 monuments, markers and tablets on or around the battlefield. The troop positions are so clearly marked at Vicksburg because soon after the end of the siege, soldiers from both sides met on the battlefield and memorialized their fallen comrades by accurately marking battle lines and encampments. Their recollections together with official reports of troop positions and movements lent accuracy and a true picture of history when the site became the Vicksburg National Military Park in 1899, only thirty-six years after the cannons were silenced over the city.
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| The Illinois monument at Vicksburg, adjacent to the Shirley House, the only surviving wartime structure in the park. Union soldiers referred to it as "the White House". |
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| The rows of white markers indicate troop lines. This photo shows how close the two armies were to each other. During the Civil War the trees would not have been there. |
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| Vicksburg National Cemetery, established in 1866. 17,000 Union troops are buried here, many moved from other burial sites. As a result, 13,000 are "unknowns" |
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| Symbol of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), the first fraternal order for Union veterans. Its charter limited membership to "veterans of the recent unpleasantness". |
Unfortunately, the sobering lessons learned during the Civil War did not keep us out of future conflicts. In April 1917, the United States entered World War I (or “The Great War”, as it was popularly known, because no one could imagine a conflict any bigger in the future.) My grandfather, Elmer, was one of four brothers who served in WWI. Grandpa was stationed in France. He never spoke of his experiences except to say “The horses came first. After a battle, the horses had to be taken care of and fed before the men. You could get more men, but horses were hard to come by.” The fighting stopped in 1918 “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month,” although the Treaty of Versailles, usually recognized as the end of World War I, was not signed until June 28, 1919. On the first anniversary of the cessation of hostilities, President Woodrow Wilson declared November 11 “Armistice Day” in honor of those who fought and died in “The Great War.”
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| Yvonne's grandfather, Elmer, in 1918. He served from September 1917 to March 1919 |
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| US troops in France in 1918. This machine gun battery used mules rather than horses. |
Less than a quarter-century after “the war to end all
wars” the United States was again thrust into war with the attack on Pearl
Harbor. Again, America’s young men – and
this time, many women, as well - went to war.
Mike’s dad, Chris, served in the United States Army. Near the end of the war in Europe, he was
assigned to General Patton’s headquarters in Germany. While there, he attempted to locate and check
on relatives of his first-generation German brother-in-law, married to his
wife’s (Mike’s mom, Virginia) sister. He
managed to find the address that he had been given, knocked on the door and was
admitted to the house. On the mantle was
a picture of Virginia, apparently sent by her sister to her in-laws. He pointed to the picture and said “meine
Frau”. The language barrier no longer
seemed insurmountable and the Germans’ suspicion of this American soldier’s
visit to their home disappeared. Chris
also used to tell several humorous anecdotes regarding his interaction with
General Patton.
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| Corporal Christopher Byrne, 1944 |
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| CPL Byrne on the sea wall in Galveston, Texas, July 21, 1944 |
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| The World War II Memorial, Washington, DC |
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| The Marine Corps War Memorial (also called the Iwo Jima Memorial) in Arlington, VA |
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| The Korean War Memorial in Washington, DC |
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| The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (also called the Vietnam Wall) in Washington, DC |
The Byrne family has a proud tradition of service in the Armed Forces. In addition to Mike’s dad, his older brother Chris served in the US Navy as a Submariner in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s.
Mike enlisted in the Army in 1968, at the height of the Vietnam war. He left Ft. Lewis, WA, with orders for Vietnam, but the plane landed in Hawaii and his orders, along with those of five other soldiers, were changed, assigning them instead to the communications center at Eighth Army Headquarters in Seoul, Korea, where he spent thirteen months.
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| PFC Michael Byrne (Basic training, 1968) |
A generation after Mike served, his son, Matt, was sworn in as a Navy officer and taught at the Navy’s Nuclear Reactor School, originally in Orlando and later relocated to Charleston, SC. Matt has decided to make the Navy his career. Now in his 17th year of service, Commander Byrne is assigned to the Office of Naval Intelligence just outside of Washington, DC. His career includes a two-year assignment aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, including a seven-month deployment to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom.
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| CMDR Matthew Byrne, 2013 |
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| Ensign Rebecca Prath, 1998 |
The latest member of the Byrne family to serve his country was our nephew, Shane, whose service in the US Army included a tour of duty as a Combat Medic in Iraq.
As Veterans’ Day nears, it is only fitting that we pay tribute to our military men and women, both to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and those who returned home to raise families and build communities. We are proud of our family members who served, as we are proud of each and every person who has worn the uniform of all branches of our Armed Forces.
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| This postcard, written in September 1943 to his family by a soldier travelling by bus from Warrensburg to St. Louis, MO shows the human side of the war. This soldier was catching the train at St. Louis, ultimately bound for overseas duty. He tells his family "don't cry". |
President Abraham Lincoln, in his Gettysburg address, said “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” On this Veterans’ Day, we remember!
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| Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA |
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| Tomb of the Unknowns, Arlington National Cemetery |
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