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Unknown Stories of WNY: Billy Sherman's Rebel Grave

WILSON, NY - In a farm field off of Wilson Burt Road sits a curious commemoration. About 300 miles north of the Mason Dixon Line, you will see, among other things, the stars and bars of Dixie adorning the grave marker of Billy Sherman.

Billy Sherman started out as a Confederate, that is until November of 1883. That is when he encountered Union forces, including Battery M, of the 1st Regiment of the New York Light Artillery.
"A man from Wilson, Lt Lorenzo Pratt was down at the Battle of Chattanooga, in Tennessee and he was able to capture him." says historian Ann Marie Linnabery. Pratt was actually the chief bugler for the regiment... Sherman was clearly confused from the effects of battle. Before bringing Sherman home Billy accompanied Pratt through another year and a half of fighting, including the famous "March to the Sea" led by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman, and resulted in the capture of Savannah.

Lorenzo and Billy saw a lot of combat together, before returning home to Wilson, where Lorenzo went back to work on the family farm and Billy was turned into a farm horse. Yes, Billy Sherman was a confederate horse when he was found wandering by Lorenzo Pratt. By all accounts Billy took very kindly to his new home in the North, and the people of Wilson took to him as well.

"He became very popular, he was in all the parades that they had at that time. in those days Memorial Day was called Decoration Day and the former soldiers would march during the parades and Billy would be right there with them, in his military regalia" says Linnabery.

Billy died September 1st, 1887, they estimate at the age 32... Which brings us back to this marker, he is buried on the land that once was the Pratt family farm. A plaque was dedicated by the Wilson Historical Society in 1973, 86 years after his death. But Billy Sherman, Wilson's very own runnin' rebel, continues to trot proudly through the unknown Stories of WNY.

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