SONS OF UNION VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR
231-932-921 tomnjudyjenkins@aol.com
DATE: OCTOBER 6, 2009: IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Robert Finch Camp NO. 14, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War of
Traverse City will be conducting grave rededication service at the Oakwood Cemetery
on Saturday, October 17 at 2:00 P.M. This service is an almost exact duplicate of the service used by the G.A.R.(Grand Army of the Republic) when they buried their
members between 1890 and 1915. The SUVCW will be dressed in Civil War uniforms
when they do the service.
The veteran’s grave to be rededicated is that of one Sgt. John P. Sinclair, a veteran of Battery C., 1st Michigan Light Artillery. In March of 1862, Sinclair fought with the army of General John Pope, attacking the Confederate fortifications at New Madrid and Island No. 10 in Missouri. While here, he contracted chronic dysentery but continued to fight with the Battery at Farmington Plains and Corinth, Mississippi in May, 1862. He
was discharged in June of that year for medical reasons due to his chronic dysentery.
He spent his later years living alone in a cabin on the shores of Long Lake. In October, 1913, he walked to Interlochen for some groceries and disappeared on the way home. The sheriff found the sack of groceries on the path near the cabin, but the remains of the veteran was not found until the following November of 1914 by two hunters. He had been lying in the woods for over a year and a forest fire had almost destroyed his remains. The G.A.R. Post in Traverse City had the remains interred in an unmarked grave in the G.A.R. plot in Oakwood there he has lain for 96 years.
This Spring, a group of re enactors in Southern Michigan known as the Robinson’s Battery (the nick name for the original Company C) set out to locate the graves of all the original members of the Battery. http://www.robinsonsbattery.org/index2.html
When they discovered John Sinclair’s grave, they contacted the Veterans Administration and obtained a military grave marker for the grave. The Traverse City SUVCW Camp 14 agreed to provide a service for Sergeant Sinclair in the traditional way. However, this one will be different in that the Robinson Battery will also participate, using artillery symbols for the gravestone, and providing the three gun salute with their cannon as would benefit a veteran cannoneer.
In addition to Grave Registration Officer Tom Jenkins, more information about
This event can be obtained from Neal Breaugh, Camp Secretary/Treasurer and Past
Camp Commander at 231-947-5873 or nbreaugh@charter.net