behind AotW

Private Christopher Columbus Blake, 2nd United States Sharpshooters was seriously wounded on the top of his head at Antietam. He was discharged afterward for disability but lived a full life as a lawyer and newspaperman in Iowa, Illinois, Colorado, and finally Kansas.

Descendants and historians located his previously unmarked grave in 2011 and the US Department of Veterans Affairs provided a new headstone. That’s local historian Iona Spencer placing flowers during the dedication of the new stone; photograph from Chris Hong’s Lawrence (KS) Journal-World story about the event.