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Located in Section DD of the Biloxi National Military Cemetery.
These photos were taken on Saturday, May 25, 2013 in Sec DD of the Biloxi National Military Cemetery. These four unknown US soldiers from the Mexican War were discovered when the tide washed away the soil over their coffins on the shore of Greenwood Island, Mississippi.
The DMWV was present for the interment in the US National Cemetery at Biloxi, MS. During the ceremony there were extremely heavy rains, but the solemn ceremony continued uninterrupted. The graves are in a pattern of three followed by a pathway, then a fourth grave. The graves are in section "DD" on the edge of the national cemetery near the main road.
photos and text by William Bozic, President May 2013.
Looking down the wharf towards the shore, to the center and right of the approximate locations of the camp and cemetery.
The hospital was located on Greenwood Island which is just out of view. The doctor assigned to the hospital was a firm believer that anesthetics were just for wimps so he forbade the use of pain medication, which only added to the misery and high death toll.
This is a photo of Greenwood Island, Mississippi, which was the location of the hospital for Camp Jefferson Davis. US Army Surgeon John Porter was in charge of the facility and named it "Camp Lawson" in honor of the US Army Chief Surgeon Thomas Lawson. (Thomas Lawson was breveted Brigadier General for courageous medical service during the Mexican War, although Surgeon B. F. Harney was officially the medical director for Winfield Scott's troops.)
Surgeon John Porter did not believe in the use of anesthetics, because he felt these relatively new drugs made the soldiers less manly due to the near elimination of pain. During the relatively short time the hospital on Greenwood Island at Camp Lawson was in use treating troops returning from service in Mexico the medical report documents 137 deaths.
This land is not accessible to the public because it is on private property and heavily industrialized. The photo was taken May 25, 2013 from a wharf located near the Beach Park in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
For more information, visit the Mississippi and the U.S.-Mexican War website.
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