BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- Clustered in ragged rows under three large shade trees, the weatherbeaten tombstones mark the final resting place of more than 80 Northern Kentucky soldiers killed in the bloodiest of all U.S. conflicts the Civil War.
Some of the stones are chipped, a couple are broken, and dozens more are illegible, their faces worn smooth by time and the elements. That was the scene a Tristate group of descendants of Union veterans took in, during a recent visit to Linden Grove Cemetery.
"I've lived in Covington most of my life, and I knew the place was in bad shape, but I didn't know how bad, until I got into this Civil War group, and we decided to check the cemeteries," said Steve Clifford.
About 18 months ago, the man whose lineage can be traced to more than a dozen Civil War soldiers joined the Lexington-based camp of Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
Months later, Mr. Clifford helped organize a Northern Kentucky group, and he now serves as commander of the Nelson Garfield Memorial Camp No. 3. It has 14 Tristate members.
"Our purpose is to educate other people about the Civil War, to let them know what really happened," said Mr. Clifford, who added the Tristate was the scene of a number of skirmishes.
As one of its first projects, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War decided to survey the graves of Northern Kentucky's Civil War veterans.
While most plots seemed to be in decent enough shape, the group found about 50 or 60 tombstones that merited attention, including some clustered in Linden Grove's Civil War section, and others scattered throughout the 30-acre cemetery.
"I think what they're doing is great," said Todd McMurtry, the cemetery's court-appointed receiver. Bankrupt for decades, the 155-year-old cemetery at 14th Street and Holman Avenue will soon be overseen by the city of Covington and Kenton County.
"Truthfully, the cemetery's stayed in pretty good shape," Mr. McMurtry said. "But there've been a lot of volunteers who've come forward to do different things. We've always appreciated their efforts."
Mr. Clifford plans to get replacement tombstones from the national Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides free military headstones or markers, if the originals are badly deteriorated, illegible, stolen or vandalized.
Mr. Clifford said volunteers are consulting various historical accounts to verify which soldiers are buried in the plots, and what their tombstones read.
"We'll provide the labor," Mr. Clifford said. "It's just a matter of digging the old (stones) out, and putting the new ones in. If there's any cost involved, we'll do fund raisers."
He hopes to begin the work sometime after Memorial Day, the holiday established in 1868 to commemorate the Civil War dead, which later became a day of remembrance for all U.S. soldiers killed or missing in action.
"I think it's just part of history that you want to remember," Mr. Clifford said. "These soldiers fought for what they believed in. It seems appropriate that we remember our Civil War veterans this holiday of all holidays, since Memorial Day was founded because of the Civil War."
