Why a Va. history buff is fighting to correct the grave of a Civil War private

CHARLES CITY COUNTY, Va. -- Even with her feet planted firmly in the present Lynda Cooke feels the constant pull of the past.

You’ll often find the woman from Charles City County 
exploring historic cemeteries like Glendale National Cemetery in Henrico and battlefields. Landmarks practically right outside her back door.

“It does my heart good to see that this is so well cared for. They’re from all across the country. We’re at Malvern Hill," Lynda said. "This is the Union Line of artillery. For me, it makes it real. It makes it alive."

When Lynda is not studying landscapes in person she pores over manuscripts and memoirs from another era.

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”It is even better than reading a good novel,” says Lynda. “I love it. I absolutely love it.”

The history buff’s favorite subjects are Civil War clashes which raged near her home. The professional title examiner possesses a detective’s knack for discovering the smallest of details.

“This is where you get the side stories. The human stories,” Lynda said.

Recently, while researching the 1864 Battle of Jones Bridge Lynda uncovered a mistake that for decades haunted a family from the Midwest.

“It was right here. Right here on the ground we’re walking on,” says Lynda. “The battles were intense. The casualties were unbelievable.”

During the fighting, Private Uriah Scott would eventually meet his fate.

“It was the 28th Indiana United States Colored Troops. USCT,” Lynda said.

The Union soldier was buried on a nearby farm more than 600 miles from home. Uriah was just 16 years of age.

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“He was wounded June 23 and he died June 25, 1864,” says Lynda. “It just pulls at your heartstrings that somebody that young was involved in that conflict and gave his life.”

Lynda said what happened years after the young soldier’s death made the episode more heartbreaking.

She uncovered letters from Uriah’s mother Sarah, who never knew what became of her youngest of three sons who served.

”She was one of so many. So many mothers,” Lynda said. “Just looking at her inquiries to the War Department and being a mother myself if I had a lost child and didn’t know where to look it would be agony for me.”

When Lynda visited Glendale National Cemetery her heart sank further. At Uriah’s gravesite, the name engraved on his granite marker is wrong.

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“The soldier is misidentified,” Lynda said. “I have looked at the muster records. There was never any Robert Scott. Ever.”

The amateur historian has documents backing her findings.

“I personally am 100% convinced. I invite anybody to look at the records and I think you’ll come to the same conclusion,” Lynda said.

Lynda doesn’t fault the crews who shouldered the responsibility of collecting and reburying tens of thousands of soldiers following the Civil War.

“Unbelievable task. Unbelievable,” Lynda said. “The fact that we have any of it right is remarkable.”

Now the researcher is embarking on a 21st century mission to right a 19th century wrong.

“The Veteran’s Administration acknowledges this is the grave of Uriah,” Lynda said.

She is urging the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs which oversees National Cemeteries to update or replace Uriah’s marker.

Her repeated inquiries haven’t been answered. But she remains undeterred.

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“I can’t let it rest. I feel compelled to take the steps. Her story. Uriah’s story is worth remembering. They are real people with real lives. Real stories,” Lynda said.

Lynda is driven by the thought of a fallen soldier and the family he left behind. Lynda Cooke is a researcher determined to literally rewrite history etched in stone - all in the name of a soldier who will forever be 16 years old.

“I’d like to see that corrected. And that has become a burning passion with me,” Lynda said. ”It is correcting an error that needs correcting. I think it is a small thing that we could do to acknowledge all that he gave at such a young age. As long as it takes. Yeah. As long as it takes. I owe that to his mother.”

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