“From the Archives” Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution
As we celebrate Independence Day this weekend, we can look in our own backyard – literally – for a reminder of those who fought during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).
In the early 19th century, laborers digging the foundation of the new Saint Mary Church inadvertently encroached upon the churchyard of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House next door at 323 South Fairfax Street. In an act of true neighborliness and ecumenism, the Presbyterians gave that small strip of land to the Catholic parish. “As our Catholic brethren have more use for that little piece of ground than we have, it is not proposed to make any objections.” (From The Old Presbyterian Meeting House at Alexandria, Virginia 1774-1874)
As they dug, the construction workers were surprised to find a coffin containing the remains of a man dressed in a Revolutionary War uniform. A new grave was immediately prepared a few feet away and the body re-interred in the Meeting House burial ground. Conflicting dates are found for the discovery, but 1826 is noted in the Meeting House records.
We don’t know the name of the soldier originally buried in land that is now beneath the rear wall of the Basilica of Saint Mary Basilica, but his legacy remains. William Gregory (1789-1875), a young man from Scotland, settled in Alexandria and became an active member of the Meeting House congregation, serving as one of its elders for many years. One Sunday after services there, while walking through the gardens, he told his young daughter Mary about the unknown soldier. Touched by the story, she placed a flower on the grave, beginning a ritual in which she often was joined by her Sunday school classmates.
In 1926, Mary, by then an elderly lady, remembered the unknown soldier in discussing the restoration of her church. She said she hoped his grave could be marked. Volunteers from the local Post of the American Legion, who were there clearing the yard, immediately prepared a temporary wooden marker. A permanent memorial was created by the National Society of the Children of the American Revolution and dedicated on Lexington-Concord Day, April 19, 1929, with music provided by the U.S. Army Band and reportedly led by John Philip Sousa.
The epitaph on the monument at the tomb reads: Here lies a soldier of the Revolution whose identity is known but to God. His was an idealism that recognized a Supreme Being, that planted religious liberty on our shores, that overthrew despotism, that established a people’s government, that wrote a Constitution setting metes and bounds of delegated authority, that fixed a standard of value upon men above gold and lifted high the torch of civil liberty along the pathway of mankind. In ourselves, his soul exists as part of ours, his memory’s mansion.
As we celebrate Independence Day, we might spend a few minutes in prayer at the final resting place of this unknown soldier of the conflict that led to our nation’s independence.
— Kitty Guy, Parish Historian
Throughout 2020, the Basilica of Saint Mary will present “From the Archives.” It is a weekly feature online and in our bulletin spotlighting the history of the parish. All of our “From the Archives” features are located here.