Five soldiers who fought in the War of 1812 were memorialized at the 1812 Cemetery in Portland on Sunday after their remains were identified.
The soldiers identified were Pvts. Anthony Cooper, Joseph Lord, J. Merrick, Daniel Snow and Ira Witt.
The five were taken as prisoners of war in Canada in 1812 during the Battle of Queenston Heights.
They were released in Halifax and were on their way to Boston when they became seriously ill. They died in Portland and were buried near what was once a military hospital on Munjoy Hill.
For a while, the five soldiers’ remains could not be found, but records showed the bodies were buried on the hill. Because the city couldn’t find any of these remains, their headstones were marked “unknown” when the 1812 Cemetery was restored in 1987.
However, with the help of modern technology, researcher Larry Glatz found and identified the five individuals.
“It’s the kind of thing that I know will last for centuries, and I’m glad I was able to add this little bit to it,” said Glatz.
Glatz says it wasn’t easy. Using digitized records from the National Archives, he went through recruitment lists for soldiers who served during the war.
Looking at the descriptions given for each soldier, Glatz was able to identify the five soldiers.
“Once we found this out, we knew that these were the soldiers that were buried under unknown gravestones,” said Glatz.
Glatz collaborated with Herb Adams, a Portland historian and history teacher at Southern Maine Community College. Glatz said the two have a passion for uncovering the past.
“Ceremonies like this mean a lot to me,” said Adams. “These soldiers played a significant role in the War of 1812, no matter how big or small. I think the right thing to do is honor them and make sure we give them the respect they deserve.”
According to Glatz, there were at least 21 soldiers that were buried together at the 1812 Cemetery. Each gravestones commemorates each soldier who died during the War of 1812.
The number of unknown soldiers now stands at three, and Glatz says he’s going to find the rest of the names.
“We’ll keep looking. We know there are more here, and hopefully we can find the last three,” said Glatz.