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Capt. Leake's actions displayed that day endeared him to those who knew and loved Commander Hart, including his son, Abraham.
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Commander Hart was likewise a brother in the Fraternity played a direct part in the events that transpired on June 11-12, 1863.
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John E. Hart, the future captain of U.S.S. Albatross, was born in New York City in 1825 and relocated to Schenectady, New York, though it is unknown when and why he relocated there.In one of those peculiar coincidences, it later turned out Rev. Daniel Lewis, the future rector of Grace Church in St. Francisville where Hart was buried, graduated in July 1832 from Union College located in Schenectady.(17)
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Commander Hart was transferred to U.S.S. Albatross, a screw steamer rigged as a three-masted schooner.
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Commander Hart assumed command of Albatross, effective that date.(20)
Hart engaged in a series of raids off the coast of Florida between November and mid-December 1862 before sailing Albatross to the mouth of the Mississippi River.
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Hart had been suffering for several days from an attack of remittent fever, with frequent paroxysms of excessive despondency."
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There was no immediate plan to stay in the Bayou Sara region after the death of Hart.
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Commander Hart, and he sent a message via the steamer Bee that sailed downriver with the news.The message requested further instructions regarding the matter.(24)
At 8:30 pm, Albatross finally broke loose of the mud bar and started its journey downriver and later was met by Bee returning from its rendezvous with Hartford.Bee had instructions from Palmer ordering Albatross to return immediately to Bayou Sara, which was done.The vessel arrived and anchored opposite the town at 10 pm.Ensign William Harcourt was dispatched on shore for the purpose of procuring an airtight metallic coffin for Hart's remains to be transported to New Orleans.There were likely plans to send Hart's body back to Schenectady for burial, but no metallic coffin was found.Harcourt returned to Albatross sometime between 12 midnight and 4 am.Commodore Palmer subsequently ordered Hart's remains to be buried there.(25)
Having failed to obtain a suitable coffin for transport and not wanting to consign the remains of Lt.Commander Hart to the muddy waters of the Mississippi River, the officers aboard Albatross, some of whom were Masons, including Dr. Burge, decided to seek a Masonic burial on shore, if the population was so inclined and there were local Masons, if agreeable to the idea.
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Hart prior to his death had made it known, in casual conversation one supposes, that he wanted a Masonic burial.
While under a flag of truce, sometime between 4 am and 8 am, Executive Officer DuBois went ashore at Bayou Sara to investigate if any Masons lived in the area that were willing to conduct a Masonic burial for Lt.Commander Hart.
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When the White brothers found Leake and communicated to him the nature of the situation and that there were brother Masons aboard Albatross that could vouch for Hart, Leake gladly and without reservation accepted the responsibly of Hart's Masonic burial.
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It made no difference to Leake that Hart was fighting against the Confederacy.
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Commander Hart.
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Commander Hart.Rather than occurring in January 1864, the date of the bombardment was moved up to June 1863 to coincide with events leading to the suicide death and subsequent burial of Hart at St. Francisville.The fabricated twentieth century version surrounding Hart's death had Albatross shelling St. Francisville, then Hart committing suicide, perhaps remorseful over the order he received to shell the town, and Leake consenting to the burial, in spite of the horrific damage done to the town by Albatross while under command of Hart.(34) Union troops moved in and out of the Bayou Sara , St. Francisville area during the summer of 1863, but there is no evidence and no reference in the log of Albatross to suggest that the ship participated in the shelling of St. Francisville while under command of John Hart.
Though the evidence indicates that Hart and Albatross had no hand in the destruction of St. Francisville, it should not diminish what occurred on June 12, 1863.
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Commander Hart reverberated far beyond the borders of West Feliciana Parish.When DuBois later communicated to Abram A. Von Vorst, Hart's father-in-law, that Hart had been buried with full Masonic honors in St. Francisville, St. George Lodge No. 6 in Schenectady responded in kind, passing a resolution expressing their deep gratitude and thanks to Feliciana Lodge No. 31 for what they had done, in spite of the current difficulties. (35)
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Leake was buried at Grace Church cemetery the following afternoon, a stone's throw from Hart's 1863 burial site.
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Commander John Elliot Hart.Forty-four years later on January 8, 1956, their bond would forever be sealed when a stone monument was laid atop the gravesite of Lt.Commander Hart and dedicated "IN LOVING TRIBUTE TO THE UNIVERSALITY OF FREE MASONRY."Both men's names and a brief history of their service to country and their connection to Masonry were inscribed on the marble plate, dated A.D. 1955.
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Beginning in the summer of 1999, Hart's 1863 burial has been reenacted annually in St. Francisville, with members of both families in 2007, and Masonic Brothers from North and South participating.
The fallen warriors at long last honored and forever connected to one another lay at peace in the majestic and beautiful grounds that lay in the shadows of Grace Church in St. Francisville, Louisiana.Both men, Lt.Commander John Elliot Hart and Capt. William Walter Leake, once combatants, are now forever brethren in a place where the war stopped, if only for a day, so many years ago.
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Burge, William J. to J. M. Foltz, June 12, 1863 - death certificate for Captain John E. Hart, RG 52, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, entry 31, Certificates of Death, Disability, Pension, and Medical Survey, NARA, Washington, D.C.
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III, No. 2, June 1949, p. 40 (reprint from the files of the Times-Picayune, New Orleans, LA, October 24, 1937), hereafter referred to as ,, ,Dixie' Brethren Decorate Yankee Grave"; William J. Burge to J. M. Foltz, June 12, 1863 - death certificate for Captain John E. Hart, RG 52, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, entry 31, Certificates of Death, Disability, Pension, and Medical Survey, NARA, Washington, D.C. , cited hereafter as Burge to Foltz, June 12, 1863; T. B. DuBois (executive officer, U.S.S. Albatross) to Commodore Palmer, June 11, 1863 and Commodore James Palmer to Rear Admiral D. G. Farragut, June 11, 1863, RG 45: Naval Records Collection and Library, entry 45, Letters Received from Commanding Officers of Squadrons, NARA, Washington, D.C.
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23. Burge to Foltz, June 12, 1863, Death Certificate of Captain John E. Hart.
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