The Havana City Cemetery had its beginnings when Mark W. Bone and his younger brother Thomas Benton "Ben" Bone were murdered by Rebel bushwhackers. They were near home when they were killed and their bodies left on open ground.
Mark and Ben were sons of Rev. James Hill Bone, a farmer and a Presiding Elder of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and his wife Susannah. They had married in Kentucky in 1819 and had a total of nine children. Mark and Ben were the two youngest, born in Kentucky in 1837 and 1839 respectively, and the next son was Matthew, born there in 1834. By 1860, the Bone family was living in Riley Township of Yell County, Arkansas, where James was organizing a new church.
When the Civil War began, Mark, Ben, and Matthew joined the Confederate army, perhaps at the insistence of their father, who was the person who enlisted them at Wilson's Store in Yell County on December 28, 1861. All three served in Co. F, 17th (Lemoyne's) Regiment, Arkansas Infantry, CSA. Mark was a private, Ben was a 4th sergeant, and Matthew was a captain. In May of 1862, Lemoyne's was consolidated with another regiment into the 21st Regiment, Arkansas Infantry. In connection with this consolidation, Matthew was discharged on May 20, and Ben was demoted to private, but Ben and Mark remained with the regiment. However, Mark was listed as absent without leave on June 23. Then, on Sept 8 at Vicksburg, Ben was ordered to general hospital with his brother-in-law Robert Rives, the latter of whom was chronically ill. Neither arrived there, and they were listed as having deserted as of Sept 1, 1862. After that, Mark and Ben were found shot to death in Yell County.
What appears to have taken place is all of them had decided that they were on the wrong side of the fight and set out to join the Union army. This was something a large number of men in that part of Arkansas either did or attempted to do as lawlessness and bushwhacking spread across the state after Confederate Gen. Van Dorn stripped Arkansas of soldiers and equipment, and his replacement Gen. Hindman then declared martial law and invoked the Conscription Act to raise another army. It is known that Rebel bushwhackers murdered Mark and Ben, who were buried where their bodies fell. Matthew also was presumed murdered, his body never found. Robert Rives survived long enough to join the Union army in 1863 but died shortly thereafter of disease. At least one other younger family member also joined the Union army.
As a post script, the Bone brothers did NOT fight at Shiloh as some have said. The Battle of Shiloh took place on April 6-7, 1862, but Gen. Van Dorn's army, to include Lemoyne's Regiment, was delayed by rain and flooding and bogged down in the swamps between Des Arc and Memphis for weeks. They did not begin arriving at Memphis until around April 15, and they did not make it to Corinth until April 27.
Sources: Most of this story is based on records in the National Archives, and the rest was told to this writer by his grandmother, Terry Pauline (Miller) Smith Duncan (1898-1975), who never lived in or near Yell County. She had heard the story from her own grandmother, who for a year or so prior to his death was Ben Bone's wife, Mary Frances (Rives) Bone Whitted Devane (1843-1916).
Mark and Ben were sons of Rev. James Hill Bone, a farmer and a Presiding Elder of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and his wife Susannah. They had married in Kentucky in 1819 and had a total of nine children. Mark and Ben were the two youngest, born in Kentucky in 1837 and 1839 respectively, and the next son was Matthew, born there in 1834. By 1860, the Bone family was living in Riley Township of Yell County, Arkansas, where James was organizing a new church.
When the Civil War began, Mark, Ben, and Matthew joined the Confederate army, perhaps at the insistence of their father, who was the person who enlisted them at Wilson's Store in Yell County on December 28, 1861. All three served in Co. F, 17th (Lemoyne's) Regiment, Arkansas Infantry, CSA. Mark was a private, Ben was a 4th sergeant, and Matthew was a captain. In May of 1862, Lemoyne's was consolidated with another regiment into the 21st Regiment, Arkansas Infantry. In connection with this consolidation, Matthew was discharged on May 20, and Ben was demoted to private, but Ben and Mark remained with the regiment. However, Mark was listed as absent without leave on June 23. Then, on Sept 8 at Vicksburg, Ben was ordered to general hospital with his brother-in-law Robert Rives, the latter of whom was chronically ill. Neither arrived there, and they were listed as having deserted as of Sept 1, 1862. After that, Mark and Ben were found shot to death in Yell County.
What appears to have taken place is all of them had decided that they were on the wrong side of the fight and set out to join the Union army. This was something a large number of men in that part of Arkansas either did or attempted to do as lawlessness and bushwhacking spread across the state after Confederate Gen. Van Dorn stripped Arkansas of soldiers and equipment, and his replacement Gen. Hindman then declared martial law and invoked the Conscription Act to raise another army. It is known that Rebel bushwhackers murdered Mark and Ben, who were buried where their bodies fell. Matthew also was presumed murdered, his body never found. Robert Rives survived long enough to join the Union army in 1863 but died shortly thereafter of disease. At least one other younger family member also joined the Union army.
As a post script, the Bone brothers did NOT fight at Shiloh as some have said. The Battle of Shiloh took place on April 6-7, 1862, but Gen. Van Dorn's army, to include Lemoyne's Regiment, was delayed by rain and flooding and bogged down in the swamps between Des Arc and Memphis for weeks. They did not begin arriving at Memphis until around April 15, and they did not make it to Corinth until April 27.
Sources: Most of this story is based on records in the National Archives, and the rest was told to this writer by his grandmother, Terry Pauline (Miller) Smith Duncan (1898-1975), who never lived in or near Yell County. She had heard the story from her own grandmother, who for a year or so prior to his death was Ben Bone's wife, Mary Frances (Rives) Bone Whitted Devane (1843-1916).
The Havana City Cemetery had its beginnings when Mark W. Bone and his younger brother Thomas Benton "Ben" Bone were murdered by Rebel bushwhackers. They were near home when they were killed and their bodies left on open ground.
Mark and Ben were sons of Rev. James Hill Bone, a farmer and a Presiding Elder of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and his wife Susannah. They had married in Kentucky in 1819 and had a total of nine children. Mark and Ben were the two youngest, born in Kentucky in 1837 and 1839 respectively, and the next son was Matthew, born there in 1834. By 1860, the Bone family was living in Riley Township of Yell County, Arkansas, where James was organizing a new church.
When the Civil War began, Mark, Ben, and Matthew joined the Confederate army, perhaps at the insistence of their father, who was the person who enlisted them at Wilson's Store in Yell County on December 28, 1861. All three served in Co. F, 17th (Lemoyne's) Regiment, Arkansas Infantry, CSA. Mark was a private, Ben was a 4th sergeant, and Matthew was a captain. In May of 1862, Lemoyne's was consolidated with another regiment into the 21st Regiment, Arkansas Infantry. In connection with this consolidation, Matthew was discharged on May 20, and Ben was demoted to private, but Ben and Mark remained with the regiment. However, Mark was listed as absent without leave on June 23. Then, on Sept 8 at Vicksburg, Ben was ordered to general hospital with his brother-in-law Robert Rives, the latter of whom was chronically ill. Neither arrived there, and they were listed as having deserted as of Sept 1, 1862. After that, Mark and Ben were found shot to death in Yell County.
What appears to have taken place is all of them had decided that they were on the wrong side of the fight and set out to join the Union army. This was something a large number of men in that part of Arkansas either did or attempted to do as lawlessness and bushwhacking spread across the state after Confederate Gen. Van Dorn stripped Arkansas of soldiers and equipment, and his replacement Gen. Hindman then declared martial law and invoked the Conscription Act to raise another army. It is known that Rebel bushwhackers murdered Mark and Ben, who were buried where their bodies fell. Matthew also was presumed murdered, his body never found. Robert Rives survived long enough to join the Union army in 1863 but died shortly thereafter of disease. At least one other younger family member also joined the Union army.
As a post script, the Bone brothers did NOT fight at Shiloh as some have said. The Battle of Shiloh took place on April 6-7, 1862, but Gen. Van Dorn's army, to include Lemoyne's Regiment, was delayed by rain and flooding and bogged down in the swamps between Des Arc and Memphis for weeks. They did not begin arriving at Memphis until around April 15, and they did not make it to Corinth until April 27.
Sources: Most of this story is based on records in the National Archives, and the rest was told to this writer by his grandmother, Terry Pauline (Miller) Smith Duncan (1898-1975), who never lived in or near Yell County. She had heard the story from her own grandmother, who for a year or so prior to his death was Ben Bone's wife, Mary Frances (Rives) Bone Whitted Devane (1843-1916).
Mark and Ben were sons of Rev. James Hill Bone, a farmer and a Presiding Elder of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and his wife Susannah. They had married in Kentucky in 1819 and had a total of nine children. Mark and Ben were the two youngest, born in Kentucky in 1837 and 1839 respectively, and the next son was Matthew, born there in 1834. By 1860, the Bone family was living in Riley Township of Yell County, Arkansas, where James was organizing a new church.
When the Civil War began, Mark, Ben, and Matthew joined the Confederate army, perhaps at the insistence of their father, who was the person who enlisted them at Wilson's Store in Yell County on December 28, 1861. All three served in Co. F, 17th (Lemoyne's) Regiment, Arkansas Infantry, CSA. Mark was a private, Ben was a 4th sergeant, and Matthew was a captain. In May of 1862, Lemoyne's was consolidated with another regiment into the 21st Regiment, Arkansas Infantry. In connection with this consolidation, Matthew was discharged on May 20, and Ben was demoted to private, but Ben and Mark remained with the regiment. However, Mark was listed as absent without leave on June 23. Then, on Sept 8 at Vicksburg, Ben was ordered to general hospital with his brother-in-law Robert Rives, the latter of whom was chronically ill. Neither arrived there, and they were listed as having deserted as of Sept 1, 1862. After that, Mark and Ben were found shot to death in Yell County.
What appears to have taken place is all of them had decided that they were on the wrong side of the fight and set out to join the Union army. This was something a large number of men in that part of Arkansas either did or attempted to do as lawlessness and bushwhacking spread across the state after Confederate Gen. Van Dorn stripped Arkansas of soldiers and equipment, and his replacement Gen. Hindman then declared martial law and invoked the Conscription Act to raise another army. It is known that Rebel bushwhackers murdered Mark and Ben, who were buried where their bodies fell. Matthew also was presumed murdered, his body never found. Robert Rives survived long enough to join the Union army in 1863 but died shortly thereafter of disease. At least one other younger family member also joined the Union army.
As a post script, the Bone brothers did NOT fight at Shiloh as some have said. The Battle of Shiloh took place on April 6-7, 1862, but Gen. Van Dorn's army, to include Lemoyne's Regiment, was delayed by rain and flooding and bogged down in the swamps between Des Arc and Memphis for weeks. They did not begin arriving at Memphis until around April 15, and they did not make it to Corinth until April 27.
Sources: Most of this story is based on records in the National Archives, and the rest was told to this writer by his grandmother, Terry Pauline (Miller) Smith Duncan (1898-1975), who never lived in or near Yell County. She had heard the story from her own grandmother, who for a year or so prior to his death was Ben Bone's wife, Mary Frances (Rives) Bone Whitted Devane (1843-1916).
Inscription
The Bone Brothers
Killed on this spot
by bushwhackers during
the Civil War
1861 1863
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