In Chapter 13 of my book Galvanized, I write about how the Confederate monuments originated in North Carolina. The story can be connected to two cemeteries in Raleigh: Rock Quarry and Oakwood.
During the occupation of Raleigh by the Union army, troops stayed in Pettigrew Hospital in Raleigh. The hospital overlooked a plot of land called Rock Quarry Cemetery and the occupiers decided to claim it as a burial ground for U.S. soldiers. The only problem was that a good number of Confederate dead were buried there.
The officer ordered that all rebel bodies be removed in two days or he’d have his men dig them up and throw them in the street. The army would offer no assistance in this task — over 500 soldiers were buried there.
Henry Mordecai had donated land for a Confederate cemetery. The residents joined together to prevent the indignity from taking place, using whatever tools and citizens they could muster and succeeded in reinterring all the dead soldiers, despite the blistering summer heat.
There had already been an issue with honoring Confederate dead. From Galvanized: “A year after the war Decoration Day was organized by a group of women to honor the Confederate dead, but the next year, when Reconstruction became harsher, the federal government took things to another level—women in Raleigh were told they would be fired upon if they held any public processions.”
Over the years, bodies were brought back to Raleigh from other battlefields, including Gettysburg, and laid to rest in Oakwood. There are over 800 soldiers buried there now.
Sources:
Galvanized
Gregus, Caroline. “The Untold History of Oakwood Cemetery” North Carolina Museum of History blog