Hiram Bledsoe's gravestone is a marble "pointed" Confederate Memorial located on the left side back of the Pleasant Hill Cemetery. The headstone is furthest from the road. A personal note - I have seen monuments at Vicksburg and at Chickamauga for Colonel Bledsoe and his Missouri Battery. It is interesting about the cannon "Old Sacramento" and the distinctive "ring" when it was discharged.
Information about Colonel Bledsoe and his artillery battery from the Cass County Historical Society:
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"Hiram Bledsoe was born April 25, 1825 in Bourbon County, Kentucky and came to Missouri about 1839, settling on a large farm near Lexington.
He volunteered to fight in the war with Mexico and served with Alexander Doniphan. Bledsoe and his men captured a cannon in the battle of Sacramento in Mexico. The cannon became known as “Old Sacramento” and went along with Bledsoe’s Battery in the Civil War.
In 1861 Bledsoe formed an artillery battery and offered it for service in the Missouri State Guard commanded by Major General Sterling Price. The bronze and silver cannon was the pride of the battery. Cast from Chihuxihua church bells, “Old Sac” produced a unique ringing sound that echoed across the battlefield. The unit fought for the MO State Guard at the battles of Carthage, Wilson’s Creek, Lexington, and Pea Ridge.
The battery joined the regular Confederate Army fighting east of the Mississippi. Two-thirds of all the Missourians who crossed the river became casualties. Bledsoe’s Battery fought in many major battles including Iuka, Corinth, Vicksburg, Atlanta, Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga and Franklin.
After the Confederate defeat at Nashville, Bledsoe volunteered his unit to serve as part of the rear guard. Their desperate fighting halted the advancing federals and allowed the remnants of Gen. Hood’s army to escape.
By war’s end, Bledsoe was a Colonel, had served as a chief of artillery in charge of 12 guns, and had been wounded six times. He and his famous battery surrendered in 1865 in South Carolina. He had the old faithful plus four 12-pound modern Napoleons.
After the war, Col. Bledsoe settled on a farm near Pleasant Hill. He served several terms on the Cass County Court and became County Collector. He was appointed to a Civil War Battlefield Commission, and was elected to the Missouri State Senate. He died at the age of 74 and is buried in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
There is a granite monument in honor of his battery at Chickamauga. “Old Sac” was melted and recast and for many years stood on the capitol lawn at Jefferson City"