Lest We Forget - African American Military History by Researcher, Author and Veteran Bennie McRae, Jr.

NSG NORTHWEST NAVAL BASE

CIVIL WAR CEMETERY

NSG NORTHWEST NAVAL BASE, CHESAPEAKE, VIRGINIA

 

Researched and submitted by
Ms. Lisa Miller - Virginia Beach, Virginia

I am a den leader in a Cub Scout Pack. Recently we were on a camping trip on the NSG Northwest Naval Base in Chesapeake, Virginia and visited a Civil War cemetery that is located on the base. There were five marked graves and approximately 11 marked only with a cross. Unfortunately, there was some damage to the cemetery, which prompted my scouts to want to undertake some repair. After learning the damage was already in the process of being repaired, they decided they wanted to find out who was buried in the unmarked graves. No one on the base seems to be able to find this information. I have discovered, via a chaplain at the base and a gentleman in a reenactors group, that this particular cemetery was one used for colored troops. The four marked headstones give the following names and regiments:

 

 

Rotor Creekman Company K, 81st New York Infantry
Wilson Nixon* Company G, 155th New York Infantry
John White Company E, 37th U.S. Colored Infantry
Lewis Offord Company E, 10th U.S. Colored Infantry

*The one man I do have information on is Wilson Nixon of the 155th New York Infantry, Company G. The reenactment group for that regiment sent me the following information. He was a native of the Suffolk area who served as a cook for the company. Records showed that he enlisted at age 24 and was mustered in on May 18, 1863. Records also showed that he served the entire war and was mustered out with the rest of the company on July 18, 1865. The regimental historian surmised he was probably a runaway slave who returned to the Suffolk area after the war where he had family and friends.

 

Attempts will be made to check dates of death on the headstones, and to see if I can find a copy of the property deed to the Naval Base to try and identify the other graves.

Lisa Miller

 

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Category: Civil War | Subcategory: Resting Places | Tags: Virginia
Related Topics / Keywords / Phrases: 1863, 1865, Civil War, New York, Ohio, Scouts, Virginia,