Historian Nanette Napoleon
Historian Nanette Napoleon told us about a Native Hawaiian soldier who fought for the United States Colored Troops; a Hawai‘i son who died in the Caribbean and remains buried there; and a rare confederate soldier.
Only one Native Hawaiian soldier who fought for the Union was buried at the cemetery. An American flag and Hawaiian inscription mark the gravestone of J. R. Kealoha, a private in the 41st United States Colored Infantry Regiment.
He died in 1877 but his grave remained unmarked until just a few years ago when Napoleon and others arranged for a marker.
There are records of other Native Hawaiians fighting in the war, but military recruiters often changed foreign names for official documents which makes tracking them a challenge.
The Effects of the American Civil War on Hawai’i and the Pacific World | Link
America s Civil War in the Pacific: Effects of the CSS Shenandoah Incident at Pohnpei Island | Link
Hawai‘i at Home During the American Civil War | Link
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Historian Nanette Napoleon
Cemetery historian Nanette Napoleon took us to a plot for the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Civil War Union veterans whose motto was Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty.
In 1882, the Capt. George W. DeLong Post No. 45 of the GAR was established in Hawai‘i, except there weren’t enough members for an independent post, so it was attached to the California GAR.
The organization supported voting rights for Black veterans and lobbied Congress to establish veterans’ pensions, among other things.
Today, 35 veterans and four wives are buried in the plot in a mauka corner near the entrance to O‘ahu Cemetery.
Local historian Nanette Napoleon, April 26, 2021
On the 160th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, The Conversation explored the stories of prominent men from Hawai‘i who fought in the war and were buried at the O‘ahu Cemetery.
Local historian Nanette Napoleon shared what she s learned about the forgotten stories, many of which she s discovered while working on her book, Hawai‘i Sons of the Civil War. She said a lot of people don t even realize there were people from Hawai‘i who fought in the Civil War.
Following the storming of the U.S. Capitol in January, one lasting image was of a man using a Confederate flag to beat Capitol Police officers who were protecting the building and the nation s lawmakers.