Tombstone Error Makes Union Soldier Confederate

PERRYVILLE, Md. (AP) ― A Maryland resident is correcting an error on the tombstone of his great-great grandfather which misidentifies the man as a Confederate soldier.

John Goff researched the life of James D. Alexander, his great-great grandfather, and was able to show Alexander served in the Union Army using honorable discharge papers and pension papers.

But Alexander, who died in 1922, currently has a tombstone inscribed with the letters "CSA," Confederate States of America, as well as a symbol associated with the rebels.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has given Goff clearance to replace Alexander's grave marker at Hart's Cemetery in Elk Neck with one for a Union Army veteran. The new marker is expected to arrive in several months.

Goff doesn't know how Alexander was misidentified.

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