At its monthly meeting Wednesday, the Elijah Gates Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans chose a design for the grave marker 24 Civil War veterans would have for the first time in more than a century.
The group chose a design for a large granite marker to formally designate the final resting place of soldiers killed in the Battle of Moore's Mill, near Calwood. Fundraising for the marker will begin at the group's annual Fall Muster on Oct. 12.
The mass grave site for the eight Confederate and 16 Union soldiers killed in Callaway County's most significant Civil War battleground was rediscovered by the Gates camp in April, after its location was lost with local memory of the bloody July 1862 battle.
"We've spent a lot of time researching it all and finally pinned it down," Monument Chairman Don Ernst said. "There's going to be the Union men and the Confederate men on (the monument). Even though we're the Sons of Confederate Veterans, these are soldiers. We honor them all; they fought for what they believed in."
A fence was built around the site and plans were soon underway to erect a grave marker. Camp Commander Noel Crowson said the group picked a solid Georgia gray granite monument, which will be inscribed with the names of the fallen soldiers.