Indiana Spirit Quest #66: Two Civil War Pow's Traditional Cache

The Indiana Spirit Quest series of geocaches will take you to a number of small, rural, historic cemeteries built by Hoosier Pioneers in central Indiana.

This quest will take you to S. Pleasant Cemetery in Wabash County. The cemetery is small, active, with stones dating to the 1840's. There are graves for several Civil War veterans, including Samuel J. Carr (1845-1902); George W. Sherbond, Co. I, 12 IND INF; Capt. Nelson E. Miller, (1841-1918), Co. H, 20th Reg. IND VOL INF; G.A. Barr, Co. I, 43rd OHIO INF, (with superscript!!!) Many veteran's graves have been marked with white wooden flag holders. Towards the front of the cemetery are 15 of these little crosses, in memorial to 15 local boys, who, presumably never made it home from the War Between the States. They are:

Ed Hurlburt, Killed at Battle of Murphysboro (sic)
Harrison Schellenberger, died at Cumberland Gap
John Flora, Sr. Killed Battle at Stone (sic) River
Thomas Richards, died of wounds in a cavalry raid
Peter Myers, killed Atlanta
Henry Callahan, killed at Pesacca
Lambert Fagin, died 7-Day Battle at Richmond
Jacob Briner,drowned Miss. River
John Bashore, killed in battle
David Briner, died at Spotsylvania
Simon Harris, died at Gettysburg
John Tillotson, died 7-Day Battle at Richmond
Marion Harris, died Ft. Donalson and

While most people have heard of the notorious Andersonville (Georgia) Prison Camp, where over 13,000 POW's perished, Libby Prison in Richmond is not as well known. It was comprised of three 4-story warehouses, which were dismantled piece by piece after the war and reassembled in Chicago. When torn down, a farmer named Davis bought some of the timbers and built a massive barn in Hamlet, in LaPorte County, Indiana. The timbers still bore the assembly marks such as "Third Floor E" and names carved by prisoners...

I don't know the relationship, if any, of these two soldiers. But I do know Sergeant Edwin Bolin was a member of the 35th Indiana Infantry and died 8/17/64 at Andersonville of Diarrhea. Records state that he was buried in grave #6018, but that record was changed by the QM in 1913, to reflect that he is not buried at Andersonville.

AIR -- "The Soldier's Orphan Boy"

Down south the Libby prison stood, The rebel's filthy den;
Rebs in battle prisoners took -- Of course our union men.
And our brave boys, hearty and hale, To prison had to go,
And few have lived to tell the tale Of misery and woe.
This prison was a horrid place, Many brave boys died there,
In rags and filth and wretchedness, They died for want of care.
Many a brave and noble man, As he lay sick and sore,
Was thinking of his friends and home He never would see more.
Fathers, brothers, young husbands dear Went through that prison door --
Some lived to return home, we hear, And others are no more.
Many a noble soldier died In Libby prison cell,
And comrades perish'd side by side, As many a man can tell.
No loving hand was near a couch To bathe an aching head --
No loving friend to watch the hours, Or soothe their dying bed;
No friend to wipe the fallen tears From off the dewy face --
No loving kindred was there near To mark their resting place.

Reprinted from The Sweet Singer of Michigan: Poems by Mrs. Julia A. Moore, ed. Walter Blair (Chicago: Pascal Covici, 1928).

The cache container is a plastic 35mm film canister. Please replace the cache camouflage when you’re done. If you find a fallen U.S. flag, please stick it back in the ground, preferably next to a Vet’s Marker.

Dogs Allowed Available year-round Less than 500 ft. from car to cache No restrooms available Check Tide Before Caching

Patrick Says Good Luck!

NO NIGHT CACHING ALLOWED ON ANY ISQ'S