Patrick Foley, Civil War Veteran, buried at Camp Butler

The stones line neatly up, smart and ready to march. The rotunda sits gently to the left and one can imagine that Abraham Lincoln stood on that platform.
In searching for more information for this blog, I found myself standing in the National Cemetery at Camp Butler, Illinois, just outside Springfield. National Cemeteries inspire a tremendous amount of patriotism, especially when you look down and see your surname and the year, 1865. This was the case for my son and I as we found Patrick Foley's resting place, Section 2, plot 239. The Camp Butler National Cemetery had only been dedicated months earlier. It now holds the remains of both Union and Confederate soldiers and is still being put to use as a resting place for veterans.
Patrick Foley was in Company H, 150th Regiment, Illinois Infantry. His unit was mustered in shortly before the end of the war and had occupation duties across the south. The regiment lost 58 men to disease that year before being mustered out in 1866. More on Patrick later when his military records arrive from the National Archives.