Elizabeth Keckley's "Behind the Scenes at the Lincoln White House

[Rsmyth]

In 1868 John Brown biographer, James Redpath, edited "Behind the Scenes." It is not known how much of the book was his work. Her son was named George Hobbs.

George Hobbs was one of the Union Soldiers killed on August 10, 1861. In her book, Elizabeth, in part, wrote the following:

“Previous to this I had lost a son. Leaving Wilberforce, he went to the battlefield with the three months troops, and was killed in Missouri – found his grave on the battlefield where the gallant General Lyon fell.

The gallant General Lyon is Nathaniel Lyon who was shot in the heart and killed on Bloody Hill during the fighting. Lyon was the first general to die in the war and like all the dead was buried on the battlefield. The general was later disinterred for reburial in Connecticut. Elizabeth’s son was also killed that day. The remainder lay where they were buried until 1867 when a national cemetery was dedicated in Springfield. The dead, North and South were moved to the Springfield National Cemetery.

Unfortunately the majority of the dead were not identified. A bronze plaque in the cemetery is inscribed as follows:

UNITED STATESNATIONAL MILITARY CEMETERY SPRINGFIELD ESTABLISHED 1867 INTERMENTS 1521KNOWN 832 UNKNOWN 889

Although George Hobbs is not listed among those interred at Springfield National Cemetery there is a marker for each of the “unknown” buried there. In all probability, this is his final resting place.