"Miss Mordecai, what we be doin’?" one of the old field hands asked.

Patti flashed him a grim, determined smile, and began to explain, "As some of you may or may not know, General Sherman has threatened to move our honorable Confederate dead from their rightful resting place, and he would dump our honest dead into the cold rushing waters of the Neuse!"

Patti realized that she had to offer some incentive to the former slaves, for most held no compassion for their former masters. "And any who will help me by burying these soldiers right here in the Mordecai graveyard will be guaranteed work for the Mordecai Family as long as they wish."

In uncertain times where money and jobs were hard to find, most of the men could not afford to turn down an offer of those proportions. So Patti marked out a large plot of land, handed out shovels, and started half of the men digging graves. The rest followed her through the muddy streets bringing wheelbarrows and a few carts with which they would carry back the displaced dead. As General Sherman looked across his camp, he saw Patti and her group of workers carting off the dead. And he allowed himself a small smile of relief, for he recognized the valor of Confederate soldier, and he did not really want to have to dump them into the Neuse.