Private Lewis Martin Gravesite

Lewis Martin, sometimes spelled Louis Martin, was an enslaved man who was born in Independence County, Arkansas. He, his mother, and his two brothers were the property of slave owners William and Nancy Martin. Later, as a free black man, he moved to Springfield, Illinois, and joined a black regiment in the Union Army during the Civil War. Lewis listed his occupation as a "farmer" on his enlistment papers. At the Battle of the Crater near Petersburg, Virginia, he was badly injured and his right arm and left leg were amputated. Understandably, Lewis struggled with both alcoholism after the War and the discrimination which followed the Civil War. His photo, which was taken to support his service disability claim, shows the powerful effect on his body and his psyche. He returned to Springfield after his service and lived there the rest of his life, which ended in 1892. He had collapsed after the funeral for Capt. John G. Mack, who was the mustering officer for Illinois, in 1887, and the papers said at the time that "Louis Martin, the brave fragment of a veteran of Bross post, fainted yesterday afternoon at the cemetery while in attendance upon the funeral of Capt. Mack. The walk was too much for him. He is minus a leg and an arm and has several marks of affection received from the boys who pointed their muskets north. " It was later thought that his death was due to a stroke, but many now think he died from alcoholism. His will left everything to Maria Brill, a white woman with whom he lived. It's not known if she was a caretaker or a lover. See Find A Grave Memorial. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the Oak Ridge Cemetery but his grave was identified in 2012 and he was finally given a headstone - after 121 years - in 2013. See Private Lewis Martin Gravesite.