Civil War veterans buried at controversial Muskego cemetery honored

It has been more than 150 years since Homer Clark and Jonathan Smiley were laid to rest, but the Civil War veterans have not been forgotten.

A crowd of around 100, including members of several Wisconsin chapters of Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, turned out to pay their respects during a somber ceremony Sunday afternoon at tiny Luther Parker Cemetery.

They walked single file through a path cut in the grass to the gravestones of Clark and Smiley, where the City of Muskego had recently cut weeds and flowers in a small area so the Civil War group could hold the honor ceremony. 

Bob Koenecke, commander of the Wind Lake chapter of Sons of Union Veterans, thanked the city for mowing around the two Civil War veterans' graves but added,  "However, there are 65 other graves in this cemetery that need mowing as well. Please Muskego, start mowing their graves as well."

The Wind Lake chapter, known as Camp 15, filed a lawsuit last month to get Muskego to mow the grass and clear weeds next to the graves of Clark and Smiley. The group had earlier asked the city to do that, but Muskego officials refused because the small plot is a plant sanctuary and the last native prairie in the community.

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Under Wisconsin law, veterans' graves must "receive proper and decent care" from cemetery owners. The lawsuit filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court is seeking a declaratory judgment on whether the way Muskego is caring for the cemetery is proper and decent.

A controlled burn last month cleared away much of the grass and foliage, but the group also contends the flames and smoke are damaging the fragile gravestones of not only Clark and Smiley but dozens of other graves of Muskego's early settlers.

A lieutenant in the 16th Wisconsin Infantry, Clark was leading his men into battle at Chickamauga in September 1863 when a Minie Ball fired by a Confederate soldier ripped into his right arm. He died of his wound a month later. Smiley, the son of Irish immigrants, served in the 22nd Wisconsin Infantry, which was known as the abolition regiment because the Wisconsin soldiers who encountered escaped slaves disobeyed orders from commanders and refused to return the slaves to their owners.

Smiley succumbed to disease, and his body was shipped home to Muskego for burial in Luther Parker Cemetery, which eventually became the resting place for a couple dozen of his family members.

In addition to the Wind Lake chapter, members of four other Wisconsin chapters of Sons of Union Veterans attended wearing period clothing. A six-member honor guard fired a three-volley musket salute and taps was played by a bugler.

"We were very humbled by the turnout," said Dave Daley, a Vietnam veteran who is a member of Camp 15. "We were very happy with the opportunity to honor these two veterans who died to preserve the freedoms we enjoy today.

"They gave their lives for us. The least the City of Muskego can do is respect their graves."

Muskego officials have previously said they are respecting the graves at the cemetery, noting the small property is maintained to preserve the land's natural history. They also say that at the time Parker and Smiley were buried, cemeteries were not routinely mowed, and maintaining the same vegetation that existed when they were buried is proper and decent care.

The Sons of Union Veterans performed an honor ceremony at the graves of Parker and Smiley for the first time last year following the discovery a few months earlier of the two Civil War veterans' headstones at Luther Parker Cemetery.

Dean J. Collins, a Catholic deacon and state department chaplain for Sons of Union Veterans, wore traditional white vestments and presided over the divine blessing during the half-hour ceremony.

Collins noted that the descendants of the men who fought and died during the Civil War had come on Memorial Day weekend to remember, to give thanks and "to consecrate the memory of brave and loyal hearts who did not fear to bear their breasts to a storm of steel in the defense of human liberty, a united country and the united brotherhood of man."