This was emailed to me so I don't have a reference.

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Spirit of the Times - Batavia NY

December 31-1864

How the Soldiers are Buried. A correspondent writing from the General Hospital at Fortress Monroe

says:

When a soldier dies, his body is washed, enshrouded in a clean shirt and drawers, and with naked hands and feet is carried on a stretcher by the nurses to the dead house and put in a plain red coffin. The soldier's name, company, and regiment are painted on the under side of the coffin lid, to identify the deceased in case of exhuming. At the hour appointed, the escort, drum corps, dead-cart, pall bearers, and the Chaplain, all being assembled, the funeral begins by placing the encoffined dead in the cart, each one receiving the regular dead salute of a three-fold wrapping of the drums and the shouldering and presenting of arms by the escort. We usually take five at a load, all covered over with the glorious old flag they died to honor and defend. All ready with a slow step, graced with the solemn notes of the "Dead March," of fife and drum, we march to the graveyard, and with a solemn silence consign them to the tomb. We usually bury eight or ten at once - sometimes not more than five. When the last coffin is let down, all bearing their heads, the Chaplain reads an appropriate passage of Scripture, makes a few remarks often speaking of the dying words and requests of the deceased, and closes with prayer - and the escort, having fired three volleys over their graves, we leave them. Retiring, the band plays a lively, patriotic air, and the solemn scene is all over, usually without a tear being shed, except when a relative is present.

The graveyard at Hampton, where all the soldiers who have died in Divisions 1, 2 and 4, of this General Hospital, now contains some 1,000 graves, is kept very neat and clean. A neat headboard, with the name, company and regiment of each soldier, and the date of his death, marks the spot where his mortal remains lie. For the information of friends at home, we state that, to exhume a body you must get a metalic case and a permit from Dr. E. McClellan, Surgeon in charge, which can be done by applying by letter at his office here, and if you don't wish to come down he will have the body exhumed and sent home by express. The cost of case and exhuming is $30. A great many bodies have been taken up this fall. They go away daily, but not half as fast as we put them there. Such a grave yard presents a solemn sight. Here lie the old, the young, the educated, the rich and the poor patriotic soldiers. The father recently exhumed the remains of his son, who left a fortune of $50,000, but who sacrificed his life for his country. Preparations are making to neatly inclose this large depository of the patriotic dead.

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David Upton