Following the second Battle of Galveston, in January 1863, many of the Union troops were transported upriver to reach Camp Ford in Tyler, Texas. This is an excerpt of a very sad event when a captured soldier died from fever and he was given a formal military burial by his Confederate captors. I suspect it was a rare sight. If anyone is interested, I will post the remainder of the story, with the author's permission. {The regiment here is the 42nd Mass.} BTW, the epilogue is much sadder.

On February 3rd, George Fiske made this entry in his diary; "Part of the teams were dispatched early after meal while the rest were engaged in bringing wood for the boat, and part of the guard went in search of cattle. At ten o'clock we performed the saddest duty of a soldier - the burial of a comrade, David Chapin, of Company I, who died last night of typhoid fever. After much labor and expense, a rough board coffin was constructed in which the remains were placed and conducted to the grave at the edge of the woods. The guard marched in front with reversed arms, their bugler playing the "dead march." Upon reaching the grave, we assembled around while the funeral services were conducted by the Chaplain. When all was over, the guard fired three volleys over the grave, and with uncovered heads, we marched past and took our last look at our departed brother, and then returned to the boat. We felt very grateful to these kind-hearted cowboys for the respect they paid to our dead.