{"id":46393,"date":"2018-05-09T17:11:34","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T23:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=46393"},"modified":"2018-05-09T17:11:34","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T23:11:34","slug":"two-university-greys-confederate-soldiers-receive-new-tombstones-in-oxford-mississippi-photographs-by-newt-rayburn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/two-university-greys-confederate-soldiers-receive-new-tombstones-in-oxford-mississippi-photographs-by-newt-rayburn\/","title":{"rendered":"Two University Greys Confederate Soldiers Receive New Tombstones in Oxford, Mississippi – Photographs by Newt Rayburn"},"content":{"rendered":"

On May 6, 2018, a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Oxford, Mississippi<\/strong>, the local Camp 1803<\/strong> of the Sons of Confederate Veterans<\/strong> held a memorial service and dedication of new tombstones for two Confederate soldiers of the famous University Greys<\/strong> regiment. <\/span><\/p>\n

The event featured Civil War era music by Alan Sibley & The Magnolia Ramblers<\/strong>, plus speeches by SCV Camp Commander\u00a0Larry Mardis<\/strong>, historian Starke Miller<\/strong>, and Jefferson Davis<\/strong> (played by Wes Teel<\/strong>). Confederate Reenactors, women in period dresses, and a color guard ushered in the laying of wreaths, while 56 Confederate battle flags marked the graves of Confederate veterans in the cemetery.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHistory is neither good or bad,\u201d spoke Wes Teel, who was portraying Confederate President Jefferson Davis. \u201cIt is just history.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“No matter how you seek to forget or ignore history, no matter how you seek to twist history to serve your political or social point of view, history will surface. No matter how you try to erase, history will reappear for those who value it to study it and to learn by history.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The new tombstones were needed at the graves of two members of the University Greys, Company A<\/strong> in the 11th Mississippi Infantry<\/strong> during the Civil War. Almost all of the Greys were students at the\u00a0University of Mississippi<\/strong>. Nearly the entire student body (135 men) enlisted in May of 1861; only four students reported for classes in fall 1861, so few that the university closed temporarily.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most famous engagement of the University Greys was at\u00a0Pickett’s Charge<\/strong>\u00a0during the\u00a0Battle of Gettysburg<\/strong>, when the Confederates made a frontal assault on the Union<\/strong> entrenchments atop\u00a0Cemetery Ridge<\/strong>. The Greys penetrated further into the Union position than any other unit, but at the terrible cost of sustaining 100% casualties\u2014every soldier was either killed or wounded. Other battles in which the Greys fought included Sharpsburg<\/strong>, First<\/strong> and Second Manasses<\/strong>, Gaines Farm<\/strong>, Seven Pines<\/strong>, and others. <\/span><\/p>\n

The two Confederate soldiers receiving new tombstones were William J. Burkhead<\/strong> and Mitchell Adrian Reynolds<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Local farmer William Burkhead, 24, enlisted with the University Greys in April of 1861. He returned to Oxford in September 1861 and died soon after from an unknown disability.\u00a0Mitchell Reynolds, 19, was a student at the University of Mississippi and enlisted the same day of Burkhead. He died of typhoid fever in Lynchburg<\/strong>, Virginia<\/strong> in August 1861 and his body was brought home to Oxford.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both are buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery<\/strong> in Oxford, Mississippi and their original tombstones were damaged and broken.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photography by Newt Rayburn<\/strong> – Copyright \u00a9 May 6, 2018.\u00a0\"The<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Alan<\/a>
Alan Sibley & The Magnolia Ramblers. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Alan<\/a>
Alan Sibley & The Magnolia Ramblers. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Confederate<\/a>
Confederate soldier reenactors. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Confederate<\/a>
Confederate soldier reenactors. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sons<\/a>
Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1803 Commander Larry Mardis with Jefferson Davis (portrayed by Wes Teel). Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sons<\/a>
Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1803 Commander Larry Mardis with Civil War historian Starke Miller. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Photograph<\/a>
Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Photograph<\/a>
Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Wes<\/a>
Wes Teel portraying Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Civil<\/a>
Civil War historian Starke Miller. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Civil<\/a>
Civil War historian Starke Miller. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Larry<\/a>
Larry Mardis shows off a replica flag of the 11th Mississippi Infantry from the Civil War. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Larry<\/a>
Larry Mardis shows off a replica flag of the 11th Mississippi Infantry from the Civil War. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sons<\/a>
Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1803 Commander Larry Mardis. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Photograph<\/a>
Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lani<\/a>
Lani Burnette Rinkel and Dore Dorris lay wreaths at the graves of Confederate soldiers. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Photograph<\/a>
Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Photograph<\/a>
Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Photograph<\/a>
Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lani<\/a>
Lani Burnette Rinkel at the gravesite of Mitchell A. Reynolds, a Confederate soldier from the University Greys company. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Photograph<\/a>
Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A new tombstone at the grave of Mitchell A. Reynolds, a Confederate soldier and member of the Company A of the 11th Mississippi Infantry, the “University Greys”. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A new tombstone at the grave of William J. Burkhead, a Confederate soldier and member of the Company A of the 11th Mississippi Infantry, the “University Greys”. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Photograph<\/a>
Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The original tombstone at the grave of William J. Burkhead, a Confederate soldier and member of the Company A of the 11th Mississippi Infantry, the “University Greys”. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The original tombstone at the grave of Mitchell A. Reynolds, a Confederate soldier and member of the Company A of the 11th Mississippi Infantry, the “University Greys”. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The gravesite of Mitchell A. Reynolds, a Confederate soldier and member of the Company A of the 11th Mississippi Infantry, the “University Greys”. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – \u00a9 May 6, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On May 6, 2018, a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Oxford, Mississippi, the local Camp 1803 of the Sons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[309],"tags":[12397,3408,12411,7606,12399,12410,12401,1386,12400,7085,12416,1062,12415,12406,12408,12396,4055,12414,405,12413,1394,5,12403,4,12398,4214,6844,12407,12409,12405,1388,11809,10879,11200,12412,1061,984,1337,12395,655,3596,12402,12404],"class_list":["post-46393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-civil-war","tag-11th-mississippi-infantry","tag-alan-sibley-the-magnolia-ramblers","tag-antietam","tag-battle-flag","tag-battle-of-gettysburg","tag-bull-run","tag-camp-1803","tag-cemetery","tag-cemetery-ridge","tag-civil-war","tag-company-a","tag-confederate","tag-dore-dorris","tag-first-manasses","tag-gaines-farm","tag-greys","tag-jefferson-davis","tag-lani-burnette-rinkel","tag-larry-mardis","tag-lynchburg","tag-memorial","tag-mississippi","tag-mitchell-adrian-reynolds","tag-oxford","tag-picketts-charge","tag-reenactment","tag-scv","tag-second-manasses","tag-seven-pines","tag-sharpsburg","tag-sons-of-confederate-veterans","tag-st-peters-cemetery","tag-starke-miller","tag-tombstone","tag-typhoid-fever","tag-union","tag-university","tag-university-greys","tag-university-greys-memorial","tag-university-of-mississippi","tag-virginia","tag-wes-teel","tag-william-j-burkhead"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/IMG_3588-adj.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}