Memorial Day 2023

Cassville Cemetery

Cassville, Georgia

Pro patria mori dulce et decorum est.

Recently, I took take a trip to Cassville, Georgia – to visit Cassville Cemetery, also known as "The Confederate Cemetery at Cassville." There are approximately 300 Confederate graves there, under the care of the State of Georgia.

Interestingly I stumbled across the grave of Confederate soldier W.M. Barrow who died during the Civil War in December 1863. I was immediately curious about his name, wondering if the initials' W.M.' were for Willie Micajah Barrow, who wrote "The Civil War Diary of Willie Micajah Barrow"?

A quick Google search confirmed this was indeed him. Barrow's Civil War diary is often quoted by researchers and historians as an essential source of information about the Confederate soldier's routine and outlook.

I noticed that Barrow was a long way from home. He was born in St. Francisville, Louisiana, and enlisted in the 4th Regiment of Louisiana Volunteers. He was captured at the Battle of Shiloh and imprisoned at Camp Douglas, Chicago, in August 1862. Barrow was released in September 1862, re-enlisted in the Confederacy, and served in Tennessee and Georgia from 1862 to 1863. Barrow died of dysentery in Dalton, Georgia -- 14 months after his release from Camp Douglas. He was 20 years old.

I found the quote on Barrow's grave very interesting: 'Pro patria mori dulce et decorum est.'

The Roman lyrical poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus, (aka Horace) c. 23 BC wrote the line in his poem Odes. Latin translation: 'It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country.' This was a popular phrase in the 19th and early 20th Centuries and was etched on many memorials and monuments to the fallen. (This line is etched above the entrance to the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington Cemetery.)

While serving with the Old Guard at Arlington Cemetery, I became acquainted with Wilfred Owen's poetry – a WWI British Army soldier and probably the definitive poet of that war. He is best known for his poem: "Dulce et Decorum Est" where he speaks of the horrific experiences of being a soldier in WWI. Owen would call Horace's line the "the old Lie," suggesting that it is designed to goad young men into battle:

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The Old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro Patria Mori.

Owen wrote his poem in 1917. The horrors of chemical warfare loom large in 'Dulce et Decorum est.' Owen had experienced the atrocities of war personally: he was hospitalized with a concussion and later suffered shell shock. Conscripted in 2015, Owen was killed in action on 4 November 1918, precisely one week (almost to the hour) before the Armistice's signing, which ended the war. He was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry. He was 25 years old.

There is a certain irony that is not lost on me in writing this post -- both Barrow and Owen would die in what would seem to be the opposite trajectory of their idealized vision of war: Barrow volunteered to fight for a cause in which he believed and died an inglorious if not a humiliating death. Owen was conscripted to service and did his duty gallantly, if not for glory.

Not surprisingly, this oft-used phrase inscribed on war memorials and headstones prior to WWI, lost its favor after the War to end all Wars.

The Memorial Amphitheater, Arlington National Cemetery, note the top line:  Dolce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori

Owen is buried at Ors Communal Cemetery, Ors, in northern France.The inscription on his gravestone, chosen by his mother Susan, is a quotation from his poetry: "SHALL LIFE RENEW THESE BODIES? OF A TRUTH ALL DEATH WILL HE ANNUL" W.O.