Vandals desecrate Civil War-era grave in Southampton County

SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY

Most locals probably hadn't thought about Joseph Ezra Gillette in years. But when someone recently tried to break into his grave, historians were outraged.

"Somebody must be sick to do something like that," said Joe Everett, Gillette's great-great-grandson. "I just don't understand, unless they were looking for some kind of Civil War paraphernalia."

That's exactly what Richard Morris, spokesman for the Southampton County Sheriff's Office, said he suspected immediately. The vandalism, he said, might have been committed by somebody looking for easy money.

"I've never known anything like this to happen in the 15 years I've been in the sheriff's department," Morris said. "Artifacts. That's the first thing we suspect."

"My gut feeling is they were looking for something valuable," said Lynda

Updike, president of the Southampton County Historical Society.

A member of the local Sons of Confederate Veterans found the open grave Wednesday, but authorities aren't sure exactly when it happened.

At first, many thought the vandals might have been searching for Gillette's sword, a relic that could be worth $200,000. But the family has the major's sword, Morris said. It wasn't buried with him.

Maj. Gillette was a regimental commander in the 13th Virginia Cavalry, according to Russell Darden, a Union Camp retiree and archaeologist. Gillette was wounded at the Battle of Brandy Station near Culpeper in 1863, Darden said, so severely that doctors considered amputating his legs. Instead, the major got on his horse and rode home to Southampton.

Everett said his father told him many times about his grandfather's homecoming.

"His bird dog recognized him first and went out to the road to meet him," Everett said. His gravestone says he died that November.

Gillette was 36 when he was buried in the family plot outside of Franklin. Several years ago, the local Sons of Confederate Veterans group restored the plot. With help from an annual donation from The Camp Foundation, the SCV continues to maintain it.

Darden, who helped with the grave's repairs, said they found two different footprints in the clay. One measured 12 inches long; another was smaller. The vandals dug a hole about 4 feet by 3 feet wide and 4 feet into the earth. A brick barrier that appeared to have been built around the casket stopped them.

The vandals never reached the major's remains, Darden said.

It well could have been a search for artifacts, he said. A brass button with the initials of the Confederate States of America can bring as much as $1,000; belt buckles are highly collectible; an authentic sword would be worth thousands.

"We keep the cemetery pristine," said Darden, a 55-year member of the SCV. "We were out there on Memorial Day and left a flag. Those mean-spirited people broke that in two."

The Sheriff's Office is offering a reward of up to $1,000 through Crimeline, Morris said.

The Urquhart-Gillette Camp of the SCV is offering another $1,000, said camp Commander Tommy Simmons.

The grave has been repaired, and things are back in order.

"I just hope they can find out who would do such a stupid trick," Everett said.

Linda McNatt, (757) 222-5561, linda.mcnatt@pilotonline.com