Topic > Avoiding the Tomb in Andersonville: Three Young Men...

Statues and shrines of Our Lady of Consolation can be found in thousands of cities around the world. Constructed of marble, wood or other stone, these replicas contain a special aura. One such sculpture of Our Lady of Consolation, located in Leopold, Indiana, has a fascinating history of its own. July 4, 2002 marked the 135th year since the statue reached America's shores (Hackmann 1). As a result of a promise, the Madonna replica found its new home in southern Indiana. After capture and shipment to the horrific Civil War prison at Andersonville, four young men - Isidore Naviaux, Henry Devillez, Lambert Rogier and Xavier Rogier - endured appalling conditions and vowed to pay homage to Our Lady of Consolation if one survived. Naviaux, along with the others, didn't know what he had signed up for. Enlisted in the 93rd Indiana Regiment, Company G on August 28, 1862, at Cannelton, Indiana, at the age of twenty-two, Isidore began serving his country (Naviaux 3). For two years the four men fought side by side in complete safety. On June 10, 1864, General Nathan Bedford Forrest's small Confederate army overcame General Samuel D. Sturgis' larger Union army at the Battle of Brice's Crossroads in Guntown, Mississippi. In addition to a total of 2,610 casualties, many Union soldiers became prisoners of war. ("Brice's 1) Naviaux, Devillez, and both Rogier brothers, all of Perry County, were among those captured (Strahl 17). Their journey to Andersonville began here. Henry Devillez, prisoner at Andersonville, recalls their travels. “. . . we were taken to Mobile, Alabama, about three hundred of us. We were there in prison about three days. . Civil War. 2013 Civil War. 03 April 2014. "Brice's Crossroads." History June 1915. 02 April 2014 .Gourley, Catherine. The Horrors of Andersonville: Life and Death in a Civil War Prison. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century, 2010. Hackmann, Bonnie. The Ferdinand News July 3, 2002: B1, B2.Naviaux, Gene. Personal interview (e-mail). April 01, 2014. Strahl, Ernest. My three loves. Indianapolis: criterion, 1994.