Russell Legg's exact gravesite is unknown, so it will not be possible to place a tombstone as one might over a known grave. Only the general area of his burial is known. This is true for all of the Confederate prisoners who died at Fort Pulaski.

The fort's cemetery was neglected for much of the past century. As a result, most graves, rebel and Yankee alike, became lost. Today they cannot be recognized by the human eye. During my last visit about two years ago, the area where the graves are located was simply a grass field adjacent to the fort.

Fortunately, the graves are potentially recoverable. The US Park Service has used ground imaging technology to identify precisely where the graves are located. However, there is no way of matching specific soldiers to specific gravesites. The fort's historical documents do not include a diagram, drawing, or other record identifying the relative positions of individual Confederates' graves within the cemetery.

It's also worth noting that the conditions of the soil around the fort, being heavily affected by the nearby ocean, make it unlikely that any bones have survived to the present day. I suppose there may be chemicals and nutrients still in the soil that were once part of Russell Legg's body, but if so, they likely exist in a form unrecognizable as human remains.

If anyone's interested, I'm descended from Russell Legg through his daughter Emily. My third child (and first son) was born this past New Year's Day, 2008, and we named him Russell in honor of Russell Legg. To avoid showing political favoritism, we chose Jacob as his middle name, in honor of another of his great-great-great grandfathers, one who fought for the Union.

Hopefully, being named after a couple old Civil War soldiers will someday cause our little boy to want to learn more about their war, and perhaps to develop an interest in history generally. I've loved history all my life and I can think of few better gifts I could pass along to my son than an appreciation of his ancestors and a fascination with the way they lived their lives.