14. William McLeod, 38th Georgia Infantry, and Moses
On the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg the commanding officer of the 38th Georgia Infantry, William McLeod, a son of a wealthy planter, was shot in the head. He lingered for about five hours before dying of the wound. His personal servant, a slave from the family plantation named Moses, buried his late master’s body on Kime’s Farm near Gettysburg, noting carefully the site of internment. Moses followed the retreat of the Army of Northern Virginia as it crossed the Potomac and entered encampments, the unit with which he traveled finally stopping near Winchester. During the retreat, he kept his late master’s personal effects with him.
After the army arrived in Virginia, Moses obtained permission to travel to the McLeod family’s plantation near Swainsboro, Georgia. The slave remained with the McLeod family, evidently for the remainder of the war. In 1865 Moses, then free, returned to Gettysburg and the Kime farm with McLeod’s brother-in-law, helping to disinter the body and return it to Georgia for burial in the family plot. The story of Moses’ dedication to his owner is but one of scores of similar examples of former slaves aiding their former masters in locating the remains of late family members.