Bernard Bluecher Graves

Brandon Bluecher Graves

Library of Congress

Quick Facts

Significance:

Confederate soldier

Place of Birth:

Hanover County, Va.

Date of Birth:

1838

Date of Death:

1881

Place of Burial:

Mercer County, Ky.

Cemetery Name:

Newton-Hopper Family Cemetery

Confederate soldier Bernard Bluecher Graves was born around 1838 in Hanover County, Virginia. He joined Nelson’s Battery in the beginning of the war. He transferred to the Amherst Light Artillery on October 4, 1862. This unit was in many battles in 1862 such as Seven Days' and Cold Harbor. 

During the summer of 1864 the Amherst Light Artillery joined Nelson’s Battalion in Jubal Early’s Army of the Valley. Graves survived the Battle of Cedar Creek unscathed. On March 2, of the following spring, the US Army captured Graves at the Battle of Waynesboro. He was one of the last prisoners of war at Fort Delaware. After his release on June 20, 1865, Graves returned to Richmond. He continued his career as a printer. Graves died in 1881 at the age of 43.

Sources

Library of Congress. "Bernard Bluecher Graves, Corp., C.S.A., three-quarter length portrait, seated, facing front." Library of Congress Prints and Photograph Collection. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2005695735/

Sherwood, Richard L. Amherst Artillery, Albemarle Artillery and Sturdivant's Battery. N.p.: H.E. Howard, 1996

National Park Service Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database. http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm