Isaac Roberts Cemetery, Battle of Champion Hill

Gloria Bailey, property owner at Champion Hill, with old headstone inscribed, "To the Memory of Sarah Roberts - Wife of Isaac Roberts."
The bottom portion of the headstone has yet to be located.

During the month of March, Gloria Bailey, battlefield property owner, hired someone to till her land to make way for her spring garden. The result of the tilling produced the unexpected – an old headstone marked "Sacred to the Memory of Sarah Roberts, wife of Isaac Roberts" was found beneath the soil.

"I could see the writing on the broken headstone," said Gloria "and all I could do was to holler, 'Lord have mercy.' I was blown away." Realizing that she had unearthed a stone relevant to Champion Hill, she contacted Sid Champion V, also a property owner at Champion Hill as well as a professional battlefield tour guide. The public reaction was immediate. Champion called WJTV to come out and film the 'find' and the footage was seen that night on the local news.

On Monday, April 2, the Clarion Ledger featured a front page article entitled "Tilling Reveals Possible Graves" by LaReeca Rucker. Pictures were shown of Gloria in her garden as well as a detail of the old headstone.

Champion also contacted local historians, Parker Hills, Terry Winschel and Rebecca Drake who identified the name on the headstone. On the Civil War map of the Champion Hill battlefield, two Isaac Roberts' houses were marked - one south of the Crossroads and the other west of the Crossroads. Both Roberts' families were living there, as were the Champions, north of the Crossroads, and the Cooks, west of the Crossroads, when the Battle of Champion Hill took place on May 16, 1863.

The late Margie Bearss, a descendant of the Cook family, recalls that her cousins remained in the Cook house, never leaving during the battle as the bullets rained like hail on the little country house. Matilda Champion, wife of Sid Champion who was enlisted with the 28th Mississippi Cavalry during that time, also never left home. She took her two year old son, Sid Champion Jr., and went into her cellar where she remained until the battle was over. The Champion House was burned following the Siege of Vicksburg. Sid Champion V has in his possession the family dining room table that was used during and after the battle when the Champion house was turned into Grant's headquarters as well as a hospital.

The Isaac Roberts' house on the Ratliff plantation road south of the Crossroads also played a major role in the battle of Champion Hill. Situated only 1/3 of a mile south of the Crossroads, the house served as headquarters for Confederate General John C. Pemberton as well as a hospital. An old cistern, one of two remaining on the battlefield, can still be seen on the property today. Both of the Roberts' houses disappeared over a long period of time.

At present, historians are working to try to find the connection between Isaac and Mary Roberts, west of the Crossroads and Isaac and Sarah Roberts, south of the Crossroads. The answer to the questions may lie in the genealogy records kept by Margie Bearss, wife of Edwin C. Bearss, who detailed the connection between the Cook and Roberts' family in the years before her death. The records are being sent to Sid Champion and members of the Champion Heritage Foundation for review.

Meanwhile, Gloria Bailey has called a halt to her spring garden for this year. "I had some of the prettiest lettuce coming up you've ever seen," she commented. Now, the garden will go unattended until the Mississippi Department of Archives and History has a chance to look for more graves, perhaps even that of Isaac Roberts.

At some point, a decision will be made as to what to do with the headstone that has been found on Bailey's five acres of hallowed ground. The historic treasure could not have been found by anyone more responsible than Gloria Bailey. Not only did she know that the stone was sacred but also that it had a direct connection to the people who lived in the area during the Vicksburg Campaign.

Archeology team from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History working the site to uncover more of the cemetery ruins.

Old cistern located on the Isaac Roberts' house site. During the Battle of Champion Hill, General John C. Pemberton made his headquarters at the Isaac Roberts' house 1/3 mile south of the Crossroads.