The United States National Cemetery System is a system of 147 military cemeteries located across the United States. The authority to create military burial places was established by an act of Congress in 1862 during the American Civil War. By the end of 1862, 14 national cemeteries had been established. Some national cemeteries, especially Arlington National Cemetery, contain the graves of important civilian leaders and other important national figures. Some national cemeteries also contain sections for Confederate soldiers.

In 1861, the federal government authorized the creation of Camp Chase. Organized in Columbus, Ohio and named for former governor Salmon Chase, Camp Chase was a recruitment and training center for the Union Army. Camp Chase also served as a Civil War prison camp. Living conditions in the prison camp were harsh and over two thousand Confederate prisoners died at Camp Chase.

Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery by Paul Sager, on Flickr


The Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery was dedicated in 1999 in Elwood, Illinois, about 50 miles southwest of Chicago. The cemetery is named after President Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States and founder of the National Cemetery system.

Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery ----------------------------------------------------- Dayton National Cemetery


During the Civil War, Camp Butler was the second largest military training camp in Illinois, second only to Camp Douglas in Chicago. After President Lincoln's call for troops in April 1861, the U.S. War Department sent then Brigadier-General William T. Sherman to Springfield to select a suitable site for a training facility. By the war's end, over 200,000 Union troops would pass through Camp Butler.

Camp Butler also housed approximately 2,000 Confederate soldiers taken as prisoners at the surrender of Fort Donelson, Tennessee in February 1862. As many as 700 prisoners died of smallpox and other diseases that were rampant in the camp. The situation was aggravated by the poor living conditions.

Camp Butler National Cemetery


Confederate graves are distinguishable by pointed headstones, which were instituted under the superstition of preventing the devil (and Northerners) from sitting on the graves.

Rock Island Confederate Cemetery


Neither Union or Confederate prison camps were well run, and it was common for prisoners to die of starvation or disease. An estimated 56,000 soldiers died in prisons during the war; almost 10% of all Civil War fatalities. During a period of 14 months in Andersonville, Georgia, 13,000 (28%) of the 45,000 Union soldiers confined there died. At Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois, 10% of its Confederate prisoners died during one cold winter month; and the 25% death rate at Elmira Prison in New York State very nearly equaled that of Andersonville's.

Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery


Rock Island National Cemetery was established within the confines of the U.S. Arsenal located on Rock Island in the Mississippi River near the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Moline, Ill. The Rock Island Confederate Prison (mentioned in the movie Gone With The Wind) operated on Rock Island from 1863 to 1865. The Rock Island Confederate Prison held 12,000 POWs during the war and approximately 1,950 died in captivity.

Rockford National Cemetery


The Cave Hill National Cemetery resides within the larger, private Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. Cave Hill Cemetery is the premier example of the Rural Style cemetery design within the United States.

Cave Hill National Cemetery


The Dayton National Cemetery was established in 1867 in Dayton, Ohio. The cemetery has the remains of veterans from every major conflict dating back to the American Revolutionary War.

Dayton National Cemetery


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