National Cemeteries, State Veteran Cemeteries and Confederate Cemeteries all honor those who served

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

Many communities have them and you are maybe like me and take for granted their existence, beyond Arlington cemetery (across the river from DC) – National Cemeteries.

My curiosity was peaked when I read The History of the U.S. National Cemetery System (on A Grave Matter).  It was fascinating to learn that it took until 1906 for “legislation passed that allowed the re-interment of Confederate soldiers in national cemeteries.”  Until that time only Union soldiers were interred in National Cemeteries.  Read more about Arlington Cemetery and the Confederate soldiers buried there.

Do note that a veteran does NOT have to be buried in a National Cemetery and many are not!

Additionally, besides the National Cemeteries (list of) there are also state established veterans cemeteries (list of).

Back to the Civil War and those who served the Confederacy. It ends up that in Raleigh (NC) where I live, that a Confederate cemetery was created in 1866 as a final resting place for Confederate Soldiers whose remains had to be removed from the Raleigh National Cemetery where only Union soldiers could be buried.

Census Diggins, Oakwood Confederate Cemetery

Raleigh was not the only place to establish a dedicated Confederate Cemetery.  Here are a few others I identified:

+ Washington Confederate Cemetery (Rose Hill, Hagerstown, MD)

+ Kittrell Confederate Cemetery, Confederate General Hospital Number One, Kittrell Springs, NC

+ Civil War Monuments of the South – Confederate Cemeteries

+ Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania [VA] Confederate Cemeteries – when I worked in DC while in college, I would visit these cemeteries

Are there deceased veterans in your family?  Are they buried in a National Cemetery or another cemetery dedicated to those who have served?  If the latter, tell us about such a non-National Cemetery where military veterans are buried.

Don’t forget to use the Gravesite Locator (US Department of Veterans Affairs) to hopefully learn where your ancestors who served in the military have been buried.

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