Two aging Civil War veterans mourned the death of their sons at a joint funeral in Knoxville National Cemetery. One, a cavalry general, had fought for the Union. The other had served as surgeon/major of a Confederate cavalry regiment. They met for the first time at the graves of their sons--two army lieutenants and University of Tennessee graduates killed together in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Newspaper accounts presented the encounter as an example of reconciliation between North and South.
This book recounts the meeting of two families from opposing sides of the war--both rooted in East Tennessee, a region harshly divided by the conflict--placing their story in the context of America's reconciliation narrative at the end of the 19th century.

Jack Brubaker, a journalist for 50 years, writes a weekly column on local history and culture for LNP, the daily newspaper in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He has written more than a dozen books and magazine articles, and has given more than 150 lectures. He lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents


Foreword by Jack Neely

Preface

Prologue: Nashville, Tennessee (Memorial Day, 1899)

¿1.¿Reuben Bernard (1832-1865)

¿2.¿Wartime East Tennessee (1861-1865)

¿3.¿William McCorkle (1830-1865)

¿4.¿Post-War East Tennessee (1865-1868)

¿5.¿Separating the Dead (1865-1868)

¿6.¿Memorializing the Dead (1868-1898)

¿7.¿Monuments to the Dead, Reunions for the Living (1868-1898)

¿8.¿Reuben Bernard and William McCorkle (1865-1898)

¿9.¿Henry McCorkle (1867-1898) and John Jay Bernard (1872-1898)

10.¿Preparing for War (Winter 1898)

11.¿Sailing from Tampa to Cuba (Spring, 1898)

12.¿The Battle at El Caney (July 1, 1898)

13.¿Burial and Memorial (July 1898-Winter 1899)

14.¿Reburial and Reconciliation (April 2, 1899)

Epilogue: Knoxville, Tennessee (Memorial Day, 1899)

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index