Civil War veterans to get official US war graves

Samuel Hough (left) and Henry McGuiness (right) are buried in Nottingham Road Cemetery in Chaddesden

Two American Civil War veterans buried in Derby are set to be given official US war graves.

Samuel Lander Hough, of the 2nd New Jersey Cavalry, and Henry Nathaniel McGuiness, of the 65th New York Infantry, are both buried in Nottingham Road Cemetery, Chaddesden.

They never received official US military headstones but from 4 October their graves will be marked like those at Arlington National Cemetery in the US.

The recognition for Mr Hough and Mr McGuiness follows research by Gina Denham, from Essex, who uncovered over 600 veterans who served in the war but died in the UK without commemoration.

Ms Denham's efforts led to the US government agreeing to provide headstones for these forgotten soldiers.

Mr Hough's life was detailed in a newspaper report

The American Civil War was a conflict from 1861 to 1865 between the Union (the North) and the Confederacy (the South) over states' rights and the expansion of slavery.

Mr Hough was the son of a wheelwright in business in Ford Street, Derby and was taken to America by his parents in 1850.

He was 15 when the conflict broke out but gave his age as 18 and joined the 2nd New Jersey Cavalry and was wounded in the right leg at the Battle of Gettysburg.

On his return to Derby, Mr Hough set up a business as a cooper in Ford Street before he died aged 92 on 26 December 1940.

Henry McGuiness and Sam Hough gathered at the YMCA in Tottenham Court Road, London for an Independence Day banquet in 1916

Mr McGuiness was born in London to Jewish parents on 3 August 1839.

After living in Finsbury for the early stages of his life, Mr McGuiness moved to the US in 1859 where it is believed he served in the 65th New York Infantry.

For his services in the Federal Army, Mr McGuiness was awarded a "pension of dollars a quarter" by the US government and moved back to the UK.

Upon his return, he became close friends with Mr Hough and research suggests both men became members of the London Branch of American Civil War veterans.

Mr McGuiness died aged 77 on 3 November 1916, in Cambridge Street, Derby.

A headstone similar to this one will be placed in Nottingham Road Cemetery

Scott Jarvis, chair of the Friends of Nottingham Road Cemetery volunteer group, said Ms Denham contacted him after she found out her second great-grandfather was a US Civil War veteran.

The chair of the volunteer group said Ms Denham worked out her relative was entitled to a military headstone like the ones at Arlington, so she contacted the relevant authorities and they proved his entitlement through his pension records.

Mr Jarvis said he was "surprised" to find out that Derby had two US Civil war soldiers buried at Nottingham Road cemetery.

"Although both men are buried here, neither has their burial recorded on the headstones that mark their graves so it is excellent news that they have both been recognised and will soon have American military headstones," said Mr Jarvis.

"We are grateful to Gina Denham who has conducted this research after finding that one of her own relatives also served."

The group will not disturb the current graves of Mr Hough and McGuiness, and Mr Jarvis said they would place the new headstones on a clear piece of land near the cemetery's chapel.