Newer memorial area is next to roadway - GAR is at the highest part of the old sections All Veterans Memorials
Riverside Cemetery
Alma, Gratiot County
The Veterans burial area of Riverside Cemetery is but one of the areas of interest at Riverside Cemetery. Atop the 'Old Section' is a GAR monument and burial area. The GAR monument is one of only a few that was not commissioned by a GAR post. The dedication reads,
The family names found on the veterans stones of the GAR burial area reflect much of the pioneer history of this county. Purvis, Hicks, Seaver, and others are still around, but some have faded like those on the aging stones. The unit origins also tell of a community being built from those settlers arriving after the Civil War. The native men of the 16th Michigan Infantry, 23rd Michigan Infantry, 8th Michigan Infantry, and 4th Michigan Calvalry lie aside their neighbors and friends of infantry units like the the 44th Illinois and 130th New York.
Enos H. Kimmel
Company C, 8th Michigan Inf
Enos H. Kimmel
One individual burial stands out simply because the veteran was so proud of his service he commissioned his own memorial statue. Enos mustered into Company C of the 8th Michigan Infantry just prior to his 20th birthday, in August of 1861. It was the early days of the war and he joined with 77 other Gratiot men on the same day. The 8th Michigan fought under General Sherman throughout the southern states from the Mississippi river to the Atlantic ocean. Enos was wounded three times; at South Carolina, Maryland, and the infamous battle at Cold Harbor, Virginia. Forty percent of the 1,715 men serving with the 8th Michigan became casualties, 134 of them died in battle.
