BY DANZA JOHNSON

Daily Journal

VERONA - It's not often a fallen soldier gets a second chance for a burial, especially when that solider fell nearly 150 years ago. But that's exactly what's going to happen for Pvt. W.H. Grist.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans Harrisburg Camp 645 will host a reburial for Grist, a Confederate soldier killed July 15, 1864, during of the Civil War's Battle of Harrisburg in Lee County. Grist, a 20-year-old Panola County man, was buried in a cornfield adjacent to the end of Lakeshire Drive in Tupelo. After the landowner decided to develop the property, Grist's body was exhumed in April through a court order and the Sons of Confederate Veterans decided it was time to give him the burial he deserved.

Bill Stroup, an SCV member, said what started out to be a small ceremony to take place on the 142nd anniversary of the soldier's death, has ballooned into an all-out Confederate funeral.

"We had no idea that this was going to be this big," said Stroup. "We were planning a simple burial, but as more people heard about it the bigger it grew."

More than 200 Civil War funeral re-enactors from throughout the U.S. will be on hand. Dressed in full military wardrobe, Confederate and Union soldiers are expected for the July 15 burial at the Old Verona Cemetery, the county's oldest. Grist's body has been in Holland-Harris Funeral home since it was disinterred,and funeral director Steve Holland said he's excited about the whole thing.

"I am a student of history and I was honored when I was asked to bury Mr. Grist," said Holland. "I'm into the Civil War from a historical standpoint and I got involved because I wanted to make sure the reburial is historically convincing. This is something that everyone should attend."

Grist's remains will be brought into the cemetery by a horse-drawn hearse. SCV member Tim Long said the reburial of a Civil War soldier is a rare event and he's honored to participate.

W H Grist