LEROY KEY MARKER TO BE UNVEILED AT OAK RIDGE CEMETERY ON MEMORIAL DAY

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Ernie Slottag 789-2235

The headstone which marks the grave of Civil War soldier Leroy Key will be officially unveiled at a noon ceremony on Monday, May 30, 2011 at Oak Ridge Cemetery. The grave site is located in block seven (7) of the cemetery.

Originally from Natchez, Mississippi, as a member of the 16^th Cavalry in 1864, Leroy Key and others were captured and sent to Andersonville Prison in southwest Georgia. Keys organized a group of inmates known as the Regulators who took control of the prison from an infamous group known as the Raiders, who had been terrorizing, robbing and beating other prisoners. Six Raiders were found guilty of crimes and punished accordingly. Key was later transferred and discharged from the military when the war ended. He subsequently moved north and made his final home in Springfield.

Key is being remembered this Memorial Day because two Civil War historians seeking to find his grave site had been surprised to learn there was no marker. Through their effort and that of the City, a new marker has now been installed at the site. 

Monday’s ceremony will begin at noon, with the Springfield Municipal Band beginning their performance of Civil War era music at 11:30. State Historian Tom Schwartz will be the keynote speaker. The stone will be unveiled by Dale Phillips, Superintendent of the Lincoln Home National Historic Site.

Several reenactment groups will be present in period costume. The colors will be presented and retired by the 10^th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. The 114^th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Infantry Reactivated will provide a twenty-one-gun salute and play Taps.

Because the location is in Block 7, in the northern portion of Oak Ridge Cemetery, there may be some walking necessary to get to the site. Those coming to enjoy the ceremony may bring their own lawn chairs.