BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) - In life, Col. Benjamin Grider practiced law in Bowling Green, married into a well-to-do Bowling Green family and led a Union Army regiment through some of the Civil War’s bloodiest battles.
Grider’s gravestone at Fairview Cemetery did not reflect his military service, but a dedicated group of re-enactors have ensured his legacy as a Civil War officer will be preserved.
The 9th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment, a re-enactment group that portrays the Civil War soldiers who fought for the Union in the regiment of the same name, raised funds from within their membership to buy a marble grave marker commemorating Grider’s military service and place it at his gravesite.
Members of the re-enactment group, dressed in the regalia and carrying the weaponry of their forebears, held a dedication ceremony one recent Saturday afternoon at the cemetery, firing a three-volley salute to honor Grider.
“I think it’s important that we don’t lose touch with the sacrifices that these people made for us,” said Todd Fife, treasurer for the 9th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry.
Todd Watts, another member of the 9th, said members researching Grider’s life found that his gravestone did not mention his military service, so they obtained permission from now-retired cemetery administrative manager Beverly Fleenor to place a military marker at his gravesite.
“It took us several years to raise the funds to do it,” Watts said.
The volunteer regiment had to purchase the stone because Grider’s grave was already marked, but the group received a stroke of good fortune when a donor provided a reclaimed military stone late last year.
The stone was refurbished to become Grider’s military headstone.
“This is the first stone we’ve ever raised money for and we hope to do more like this in the future,” Fife said. “There weren’t many big Civil War battles in Bowling Green, but (the war) impacted the area big time.”
Grider was loyal to the Union cause, raising troops from south-central Kentucky and middle Tennessee to fight alongside him from 1861 to 1863 and leading his regiment through the Battles of Shiloh and Stones River in Tennessee, which produced more than 48,000 casualties on both sides and represented important early victories for the Union.
Grider married into the Underwood family, a prominent name in 19th century Bowling Green, and died in 1872 at age 45.
He is buried in the Underwood family plot at Fairview.
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Information from: Daily News, http://www.bgdailynews.com
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