The Story of Ebinezer Abe Hanna

What once was lost...

Ebenezer "Abe" Hanna's headstone at the Sante Fe National Cemetery

Skip ahead from 1862 one hundred and twenty-five years to June 1987. A backhoe operator clearing land near Glorietta Creek New Mexico makes a startling discovery, the remains of 31 Confederate soldiers. What followed could be described as the final conflict of the Civil War. The news of the remains of the Texan soldiers having been found quickly spread to their home state, and a request for those remains to be returned to Texas was made. However the folks in New Mexico felt that since the Texas soldiers had died on New Mexico soil and had been interred there for over a century that the remains belonged there in New Mexico. A small amount of bickering between opponents in the two states ensued with the New Mexico faction finally winning the argument. Following the discovery of the burial site the major challenge was to try to identify the remains of the 31 bodies. From war records all of the soldiers names were known but only three set of remains could be identified and matched to a name. One set of remains identified was of a young man who had been buried with a set of writing instruments; this same young man had died from a bullet to the spine, Great Great Great-uncle Abe. On April 26th 1993 at the Sante Fe NM National Cemetery the remains of those Confederate soldiers were re-interred. The remains of Abe Hanna and of one other identified soldier were given separate plots. The other 28 soldiers who had shared the mass grave were again buried together, their names sharing a bronze plaque. ( The third identified soldier received a private burial at his family's request. )

Abe's remains lying in state at the Sante Fe National Cemetery

Abe being laid to rest at the Sante Fe National Cemetery

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In the case of  Ebenezer “Abe” Hanna and the others that was found with him is an example of so many Civil War hero’s who lost there lives and buried somewhere only to be found.