Post date: May 11, 2015 1:13:02 AM
Help honor this Civil War soldier! Use our e-mail or Contact Us link to find out how!
Benjamin C. Grider was a notable citizen of Bowling Green, KY who remained zealously loyal to the Union, & diligently worked raising troops & became the Col. of the 9th KY Vols. Inf. (US). He was brave & gallant leading his Regiment at Shiloh & Stones River. But, honestly, he was frowned on by command for his personal demon with alcohol as well as not being a regular Army man, so while absent on a leave in early 1863 he was cashiered & replaced. He worked again to raise troops but never again regained his standing. After the war, he seems to have fallen greatly in public standing leaving barely any trace of his life in Bowling Green. Married-into the prominent Underwood family, he was buried in the large Underwood cemetery plot in Fairview Cemetery with a simple marker that noted nothing about his Civil War service.
Today’s 9th KY Vols. wants to purchase a standard military style marble grave marker to place at Col. Grider’s grave. Regardless of any personal failings he may have had, he was noted during his times in battle as leading bravely & the 9th KY came to be known as one of the hardest fighting Regiments in its Army under his leadership. We have received permission from the cemetery superintendent to do this. However, the US Gov’t will not supply the stone since the grave is already marked, so we must buy the military stone which will cost close to $5,000. Since we are strictly a loose band of volunteers we must rely on donations to make this happen. Please consider helping us honor the man that was most responsible for the formation of the gallant 9th KY Infantry!
UPDATE! We had an interested party donate a reclaimed military stone to us in late 2017. This stone was then refurbished at a much cheaper price than having a stone made to become Col Grider's new military headstone. We await details of how and when to place it at his grave in Bowling Green. Once that is done, we will hold a small commemoration of the event.
Project Completed! We were able to set the proper military marker on Col. Grider's grave in April, 2018.