Collecting remains of the dead, Cold Harbor

Reekie, John · April 1865

From "War Memories" catalog: This is a ghastly view showing the process of collecting the remains of Union soldiers who were hastily buried at the time of the battle. This is a scene on the battlefield months after the battle, when the Government ordered the remains gathered for permanent burial. The grinning skulls, the boot still hanging on the fleshless bones, the old canteen on the skeleton, all testify to the hasty burial after the battle. Looking on this scene you can easily understand why, in all national cemeteries, there are so great a number of graves marked "unknown." These are the "unknown" heroes of the war, who "died that our nation might live."