Perhaps because A.J. Hicks was the start of a new row and thus closer to the guards or maybe because trees did NOT provide the cover as the others had done or maybe because Flowers and company simply ran out of time his grave was left alone. The other four would vanish into the night.

The day before, on November 23rd, two Confederate soldiers had been buried. They were:

A.J. Hensley of the 45 Battalion Virginia Infantry buried in grave #507.
Stephen Jones of the 1st Florida Cavalry buried in grave # 509.

Of these two, Hensley’s body was taken. Perhaps because Jones had died of small-pox his body was left.

On November 22nd, Curtis Hooks of the 59th Georgia was buried in grave number 508. Perhaps his body was decaying too much or perhaps the body snatchers got scared but for whatever reason his body was dug up, but left behind. The records at NARA are quite clear on this subject. For the five missing Confederates the same entry is made above their names: "Disinterred by some unknown hand on the night of Nov. 24, 1864."

Hiram Bland was from Bulloch County, Georgia. One of Hiram’s descendants is Thomas D. Houston. Tommy Houston is a member of the Brig. General Robert H. Anderson SCV Camp #1919 in Hinesville. Mr. Houston acquired the CMSR [Compiled Military Service Record] of Hiram Bland in 1997 and forwarded the information to other Bland descendants and the author.

Private Bland enlisted in the Toombs Guards of the 9th Georgia and saw action in Virginia. Hiram came down with typhoid fever in late 1861 and after being weakened by the fever was finally discharged for debility and old age [he was 40] on July 18, 1862. Living back home in Georgia may have given Hiram a second wind, for he enlisted in the 1st Georgia Infantry and was captured along with Lindley on July 22, 1864 at Atlanta. If hospital life did NOT agree with Hiram, prison life would surely NOT. His wife and children awaited his safe return but instead the blue uniforms of Sherman’s Army invaded Bulloch County. By the time Sherman was giving Savannah to President Lincoln for Christmas, Hiram Bland’s body was being dissected for perhaps the last time.

The Cleveland Medical College was located along the railroad depot in Cleveland. Dr. Flowers' method of transporting his "material" was by rail. The doctors at the medical college also provided railroad employees with needed health care. The stealing of bodies was highly organized and secret. A secret oath was sworn and anyone betraying it was killed. Many doctors took the secrets with them to their grave while others revealed their secrets many decades later.

Late in November of 1864 five Confederate bodies were transported in boxes to the Cleveland Medical College for dissection. The sign on the boxes simply read "merchandise." It is ironic that in less than five months later another body would be heading south along that same railroad track. Inside this well-known casket would be the cadaver of President Lincoln heading from Cleveland to Columbus, Ohio.

Colonel William Pitt Richardson [author of the O.R. entry 11/24/64] had lost his right arm at Chancellorsville and was appointed as Post Commander of Camp Chase. Prior to the War he had been an attorney in Monroe county Ohio. In early November of 1864 some things would change in Columbus, Ohio. On November 7th the editor of the "Crisis," Samuel Medary, would die. His newspaper office had been broken into and torn apart many times during the War for his views on the War. On November 8, the re-election of Lincoln took place and along with that a new Ohio Attorney General was elected. His name was none other than Colonel W.P. Richardson, the Camp Chase Post Commander.

To make matters worse, the Franklin County District Attorney, J.O. Reamy, to whom the evidence had been turned over, had a son who was a doctor also. No legal punishment or court appearance was in Dr. Flowers' future.

A typical cadaver stayed with the medical college for six weeks. Every inch of the body was dissected by eager medical students. Back in Georgia, Sherman had already started his infamous March to the Sea on November 15th. Many Georgia families only wished for their loved ones' safe return for Christmas. It was a blessing that they never knew what really happened to these victims of Camp Chase.

Perhaps the only positive aspect of this story is that just maybe some medical student may have learned enough from the Confederate soldiers to save some human lives during their career.

Perry County Ohio had been the home to Dr. J.R. Flowers prior to the War. It was also the home of General Phil Sheridan and Colonel James M. Comley of the 23rd Ohio Infantry. Colonel Comley had studied law in Perry County prior to the War. The 23rd Ohio was also the regiment of two future United States Presidents, Hayes and McKinley. Colonel Comley was in and out of Camp Chase during the War. Colonel Comley and his father-in-law would own the "Ohio State Journal" by the end of the War. The reports of body snatching has never been published in the OSJ. James Comley, for obvious reasons, may have been Dr. Flowers legal counsel of choice. If nothing else Comley had connections. But that is the way it always seemed to be, the body-snatchers knew the right people.

In 1876, Dr. Flowers was elected as the new City Councilman for Ward 3. One of his first motions was to have the old City Cemetery moved. Prior to the Camp Chase Cemetery on August 1st 1863, the Confederate soldiers were buried in the same City Cemetery on Livingston Avenue. Even the local paper remarked, "There may NOT be as many bodies in the cemetery as thought due to the Medical College."

Dr. Flowers had one child born in October of 1864. She would die from a contagious disease in June of 1873 called spinal meningitis. Dr. Flowers would die in May of 1895 of heart failure. According to one account he suffered greatly before passing on. After his death his wife remarried. Dr. Joab R. Flowers was well thought of by the citizens of Columbus as many things were named after him. [Flowers Fire Engine story ]

But on that November day in 1864 Flowers was arrested with others and his crime will NOT be forgotten, especially way down in Dixie where numerous descendants have been searching for answers for decades.

Was Camp Chase the only prison where this happened? I am currently working on that very research.

Sources for this article were taken from:
The newspaper the "Crisis" 1864
The newspaper "Columbus Dispatch" 1895
The newspaper "Ohio State Journal" 1864
The newspaper "Ohio Statesman" 1864
The United States Census 1860
Columbus City Directory 1862
Columbus City Directory 1876
Official Records of the War of the Rebellion
NARA [i.e., Camp Chase Records]
Ohio’s Laws
"The Story of Camp Chase" by William H. Knauss [ISBN: 0962603406]
"BODY SNATCHING IN OHIO DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY" by Linden F. Edwards, Professor of Anatomy, Ohio State University. Published in "THE OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY" Volume 59 in 1950. page 346.
Personal family history of the Lindley family
Personal family history of the Bland family (Thomas D. Houston) and CMSR
Greenlawn Cemetery interment Records
Note: Other Bland descendants have provided useful information on Hiram Bland but none of their information is presented in this article. The author would like to thank Steve Scroggins for his time and efforts in helping with this story.