Unknown Confederate Civil War Hero. Alongside the railroad tracks in the community of Allatoona, Georgia, lies the Unknown Hero. The tombstone marking the grave reads, "An Unknown Hero, He died for the Cause He thought was right." There are many theories on the identity of the unknown Confederate soldier. One claims he was Private Andrew Jackson Houston of Mississippi, while another states he may have been Private B.F. Murdock of Missouri. In 1947, J. Philip Abernathy of Sherman, Texas (and formerly of Bartow County, Georgia) wrote to the Bartow newspaper to tell that the Unknown Hero was a young soldier whose body was sent to the Allatoona depot with no identification other than "Allatoona, GA" written on the wooden box. When no one could identify him, and the body began decaying, five of Mr. Abernathy's female cousins buried the soldier in a location by the railroad tracks. Years later, a surveying crew discovered the grave. The railroad men cared for the gravesite and, in 1886, erected the tombstone which still stands today. Governor Joseph M. Brown, a frequent visitor of the Allatoona Pass Battlefield site, was moved by the lone grave and wrote the poem "A Soldier's Grave." Tin Pan Alley composer Paul Dresser immortalized it in his songs "He Fought for the Cause He Thought Was Right" and "The Lone Grave." In 1944, the grave was moved a half mile south of its original location to make way for the Allatoona Dam and Reservoir project.
Unknown Confederate Civil War Hero. Alongside the railroad tracks in the community of Allatoona, Georgia, lies the Unknown Hero. The tombstone marking the grave reads, "An Unknown Hero, He died for the Cause He thought was right." There are many theories on the identity of the unknown Confederate soldier. One claims he was Private Andrew Jackson Houston of Mississippi, while another states he may have been Private B.F. Murdock of Missouri. In 1947, J. Philip Abernathy of Sherman, Texas (and formerly of Bartow County, Georgia) wrote to the Bartow newspaper to tell that the Unknown Hero was a young soldier whose body was sent to the Allatoona depot with no identification other than "Allatoona, GA" written on the wooden box. When no one could identify him, and the body began decaying, five of Mr. Abernathy's female cousins buried the soldier in a location by the railroad tracks. Years later, a surveying crew discovered the grave. The railroad men cared for the gravesite and, in 1886, erected the tombstone which still stands today. Governor Joseph M. Brown, a frequent visitor of the Allatoona Pass Battlefield site, was moved by the lone grave and wrote the poem "A Soldier's Grave." Tin Pan Alley composer Paul Dresser immortalized it in his songs "He Fought for the Cause He Thought Was Right" and "The Lone Grave." In 1944, the grave was moved a half mile south of its original location to make way for the Allatoona Dam and Reservoir project.
Bio by: Evening Blues
