Century-old soldier's grave marked with headstone

The gravestone was donated by the Veterans Association of America

The grave of a Union soldier who died more than 100 years ago has finally been marked with a headstone shipped 4,000 miles (6,437 km) from the United States.

Robert Renoldson left North Shields in 1863 as an apprentice Mariner, before becoming a Union soldier.

He eventually returned to the North East and when he died he was buried in an unmarked grave in Preston Cemetery in 1916.

Now thanks to the North Shields Heritology Project, his grave has been marked by a stone donated by the Veterans Association of America.

Dave Young from the North Shields project, said that the white marble stone had made the same journey Mr Renoldson had all those years ago.

He added that it was "fitting" that "somebody who made that impact on such an important piece of history" should be honoured with a headstone.

‘Looking for adventure’

He said the soldier was just an "ordinary young man” when he joined the Merchant Navy at 16 years old.

Sailing from North Shields, it is believed he reached Boston, Massachusetts in the middle of the American Civil War.

Eleven days after his 17th birthday in 1863, he enlisted in the Union army in the place of a farmer, who gave him a “bounty” for taking his place.

The American Civil War centred around the future of slavery, but Mr Young said he doubted the teenager had “any idea what the war was about”.

“I think he was probably just a young man looking for a bit of adventure in his life.”

A service was held on Tuesday at North Shields Baptist Church to mark 108 years since the former soldier died aged 69, in 1916.