Estimates of the Killed, Wounded, and Missing
Estimates of the killed, wounded, and missing from the actions at Lovejoy Station are difficult to determine. Battle reports are sometimes inaccurate and often inconsistent. Colonel Minty reported 192 killed, missing, and wounded from his division during Kilpatrick's Raid. Dr. George Fish of the 4th Michigan Cavalry reported in a letter on September 5, 1864 that the loss of the entire command during the operation was 230 Killed, wounded and missing, but this seems low considering Minty's estimate. The total is probably closer to 300 casualties. Information on Confederate losses is harder to obtain than that of Union losses. The four regiments of Ross's Texas Cavalry Brigade only included about 400 men, of the 3rd Texas regiment alone lost three company commanders, four lieutenants, two sergeants, three corporals and eleven privates killed or captured. The captured officers were sent to Johnson's Island on Lake Erie and the enlisted men were sent to Camp Chase near Columbus Ohio. A number of the 3rd Texas Cavalry failed to survive the Camp Chase interment. Several died from chronic diarrhea and bronchitis. The remainder of the captured officers and men of the 3rd Texas were furloughed and allowed to go home in May and June of 1865. In all, similar losses for the other regiments would amount to 80 casualties for the whole brigade, or about 20 percent of those engaged.
There is no firm accounting of the disposition of the bodies of those who died in the action around Lovejoy's Station on August 20, 1864. Most were likely carried from the field by Union and Confederate troops and staff or by local citizens. However, others may have been lost on the field, particularly given the confusion in the heat of battle, and the rough nature of the landscape in which the conflict was fought. Woods, thickets, and gullies may have hidden bodies for days. According to local citizens, three Union cavalrymen are buried in the Babb/Conkle Cemetery. One grave is marked, "Unknown Union Soldier." It has been told that two more Union cavalrymen are buried under the northern fence line of the cemetery. (Source) - (Communications with Robert Conkle, Hampton, 1998). These soldier's burial sites serve proof of the nearby cavalry saber charge across the fields of Nash Farm. Sadly their names have been lost to prosperity.
Regardless of whether any bodies remain on the Nash Farm property, the fact that so many men from both sides died on or near the property during the actions there make it a hallowed place. Preservation of the field and interpretation of the events there would be a fitting memorial to those who died, but Henry County or some historical or veteran organization might consider specific memorials to be erected on the property, or develop one memorial to honor all of the dead of Lovejoy.
