Tortugas

[GustD45]

It is possible that O'Laughlen was originally buried on Hospital Key since that's where many Yellow Fever victims were buried there.

[Dave Taylor]

Steve,

You hit upon a similar inconsistency that I did. Unfortunately they used many of the different keys of the Dry Tortugas to bury their dead at different times. Garden, Hospital (Sand), Bird and Loggerhead Key all held the remains of different soldiers and prisoners. For example, there was another Yellow Fever epidemic that hit the Fort in 1873. The bulk of the dead from that event were buried on Bird Key. One was buried right on Garden Key because the ocean was too rough to even get him to Bird Key on the day he died. In 1875, the post commander attempted to get grave markers for them. He was also asked to produce a full list of those who died on the island and that list includes Michael O’Laughlen’s name. Unfortunately it does not give the specific burial location of any of the men in that list. I’ve been fighting between Hospital Key and Bird Key as the burial location for O’Laughlen for a long time, which is why I'm planning on visiting both, just to cover my bases.

[Gene C]

Here is a map of the Keys.
It's out there in the middle of no where, 68 miles from Key West.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/49968/49...map_hr.jpg

It looks like the Hospital Key is a good 2 miles from the fort.
I'm not much of a water person. Dave, I would be worried for you two to kayak over to Hospital Key.

[Dave Taylor]

It looks like the Hospital Key is a good 2 miles from the fort.
I'm not much of a water person. Dave, I would be worried for you two to kayak over to Hospital Key.

I appreciate the concern, Gene. In order to even leave Garden Key (the main island where the fort is) you have to get approval from the Rangers on the day so they can check the ocean conditions. If they say no then we won't go. Actually, Hospital Key is closer to Garden Key than Loggerhead Key is. Loggerhead Key is 3 miles to the west of the Fort and has the big lighthouse. People regularly kayak over there to snorkel and visit. There are actually two grave stones over on loggerhead key that are still standing. So I figure if we can make it to Loggerhead Key, we can make it to hospital key. We'll have a emergency radio and GPS to keep us safe.

[Rsmyth]

That is so damm exciting. I always thought about doing that!

[tom82baur]

My wife and I had paid reservations for the seaplane to Dry Tortuga last April but, as we boarded the shuttle from the hotel to go to the plane, we got a call cancelling the flight due to the weather, with a full refund. We were unable to re-schedule due to our travel plans, so that was a big disappointment. Have fun!

[Tom Bogar]

Dave and Kate, I have to echo tom82baur's sentiments. Allow extra time. The first time I went down to Ft. Jefferson, it was March and the high winds and rough seas canceled all plane and boat traffic for three days, and I had to come back home and try again in May. The weather down there can be really capricious. Fingers crossed for you!

[Steve]

Dave here's a link to a 1993 National Park Service "Submerged Cultural Resources Assessment" with things that might be of interest in checking out if you plan to camp and kayak between the keys:

https://archive.org/details/drytortugasn...rr/page/n7

Here's a link to a chronology of the uses of Bird Key and Hospital Key from the report:

https://archive.org/details/drytortugasn...r/page/138


Also, the Secretary of War ordered all the remaining/surviving bodies on Bird Key to be moved to the Pensacola military cemetery in 1877:

https://books.google.com/books?id=WpgFAA...la&f=false

[RJNorton]

Many thanks to Steve for sending these images. Steve writes, "I have images of the Fort Jefferson interments record to post to the forum. It comes in two sets of names, one from 1873 that lists interments from 1861-1868 followed by another duplicate list with additions from 1879. Note that in the duplicate 1879 entry for O'Laughlen, it lists him as a private from Co. M 5th US Artillery. Apparently the person copying the 1879 entry copied the information of the name above O'Laughlen's on the 1873 list, Pvt Desalo (Desoto?) Holmes who died on 24 Mar. 1868. Of course this error leads somebody to create a duplicate Find A Grave record for "Pvt Michael O'Laughlen":

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1125...o_laughlen

I have to add that I found a slight discrepancy in the number of deaths. The interment list from 1873 lists 47 soldiers as dying/buried at Fort Jefferson from 1863-1868, while by my count the central Army register of deaths only lists the names of 44 soldiers as dying during that time period at Fort Jefferson. (51 total interments from the 1873 list; less O'Laughlen, two "citizens" who died in 1867, and one Mary Louisa Jackson who died in Aug. 1861)."

[Rsmyth]

I am in awe of Steve's research ability. How quickly he comes up with information on any topic!

[RJNorton]

I am in awe of Steve's research ability. How quickly he comes up with information on any topic!

Agreed!

[L Verge]

Dave here's a link to a 1993 National Park Service "Submerged Cultural Resources Assessment" with things that might be of interest in checking out if you plan to camp and kayak between the keys:

https://archive.org/details/drytortugasn...rr/page/n7

Here's a link to a chronology of the uses of Bird Key and Hospital Key from the report:

https://archive.org/details/drytortugasn...r/page/138


Also, the Secretary of War ordered all the remaining/surviving bodies on Bird Key to be moved to the Pensacola military in 1877:

https://books.google.com/books?id=WpgFAA...la&f=false

Loved seeing references to my friend Ed Bearss in these reports that he compiled back in the 1980s. He is one of the most brilliant military historians that God ever created and retired about 20 years ago as the Chief Historian for the National Park Service. Ed is now in his mid-90s and still travels the world conducting tours of WWII sites and here in the U.S. (chiefly Civil War).

Many years ago, he was given two weeks notice to conduct a tour over the Booth escape route for the Smithsonian. The Surratt Society had been doing the tours, but a conflict of interest occurred, and we were dropped. Let's just say that I filled in a few gaps in his narrative for him since he inherited the job with so little notice.
He still does at least one tour a year for the Smithsonian, and when he gets to Surratt House, he comes into my office and usually says, "So, fill me in on what's new in the assassination field."

He's a native of Montana, I believe. Those cruel winters must create very hardy folks.

[Steve]

Thanks for your kind comments, Roger and Rich!

I do need to correct an error in my email to Roger - the 1873 interment list has 45 regular army soldiers compared to 44 on the central register (which only includes regular army), I forgot to subtract the two Pennsylvania soldiers before comparing the two lists. My best guess to reconcile the one burial/death difference between registers is that the 1873 list also includes 1869 deaths and the sole soldier who died that year at Ft. Jefferson, Ferdinand Gross (who's also not listed by name on the 1879 list) who drowned on 18 June 1869, may be one of the unknown soldiers on the list.

I wonder why the sole soldier listed by name as being buried at Hospital Key, Henry Wever of the NY Volunteers, isn't on the 1873 list at all. Does that mean that the 1873 list doesn't have burials from Sand/Hospital Key and that O'Laughlen was originally buried on Bird Key?

[GustD45]

Laurie you should invite Mr. Bearss to join the group I bet his insights would be stellar

[L Verge]

Laurie you should invite Mr. Bearss to join the group I bet his insights would be stellar

Regarding battles, yes. Not so sure as to how heavily he is into Lincoln history. You also made me pause and wonder if he is computer-oriented. He is so into tours, personal contact with the public, so well-read in general (before the advent of these contraptions), that he might not feel comfortable in our age of technology.