September 2007
Dedication of a newly placed Civil War headstone was held on Saturday, September 22nd for Pvt. Charles Emery Gard, a Veteran who was buried in 1924 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Omaha, Nebraska. Charles had joined the 11th New Jersey Infantry in 1862 and fought in the 1862 battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, then served as a provost guard from February 1863 until he was mustered out of service at the end of the Civil War in 1865.
Private Gard’s final resting place was unmarked for eighty-three years until a great-great granddaughter – Sherrie Ferguson of Claremore, a member of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1861 -1865, worked with officials in Nebraska to obtain a military headstone through the Veterans Administration. Omaha area Sons of Union Veterans in period dress and reproduction Civil War uniforms, Nebraska DUVCW members, and the Omaha American Legion Post #1 held a service of recognition. A ceremony implemented by the Grand Army of the Republic in the early 20th Century was repeated, for this historic moment of dedication, one hundred forty-five years after young Charles E. Gard’s enlistment in the Union Army.
Photo Courtesy of Geremy Ferguson
