Mississippians:

We of the Jefferson Davis Birthplace Camp # 1675, Sons of Confederate Veterans, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, have completed 5 years of research on the 13 members of Colonel John Simonton's 1st Mississippi Infantry who died of disease here at Camp Alcorn in the winter of 1861-1862. We have also researched the 70 members of Col. Thomas Davidson's 3rd (23rd) Mississippi Infantry who also died of disease here at Camp Alcorn at that same time.

From cemetery records and from the names of hometowns uttered on the deathbeds of many of these individuals, they came mostly from towns and counties in northeast Mississippi.

We are taking excellent care of "our boys" from Mississippi. We placed granite headstones at all of their graves in the summer and fall of 2001. We place Confederate First National flags on all of their graves on our Confederate Memorial Day which in Kentucky is the first Sunday in June (close to Jefferson Davis' birthday) and on Veterans' Day in November.

Our Mississippians are buried under a massive tulip poplar tree in the most beautiful part of Hopkinsville's Riverside Cemetery. They lie there along with "our boys" from the 7th (Gregg's) Texas Infantry, the 8th (Lyon's) Kentucky Infantry, the 3rd (Forrest's) Tennessee Cavalry, the 1st (Helm's) Kentucky Cavalry and the Kentucky Cumberland (Green's) Battery of Artillery. There are a total of 293 headstones in our Confederate Cemetery - 83 of which belong to Mississippians.

All Mississippians are encouraged to come to Hopkinsville and visit our Confederate Cemetery sometime. I think you would be proud. We sure are!

Very humbly yours in service for The Cause,

Larry Walston
Jefferson Davis Birthplace Camp # 1675
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Hopkinsville, KY 42240