Winchester National Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Winchester National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery
located in the city of Winchester
in Frederick County, Virginia
. It encompasses 4.9 acres (19,829.6 m²), and as of the end of 2005, it had 5,561 interments. It is closed to new interments.
additional land was appropriated by the federal government and it was officially deicated on April 8, 1866. The land was not legally transferred to the U.S. government until Dec. 1, 1870, when the landowner, Jacob Baker, was paid $1,500 for the 4.89 acres (19,789.1 m²) tract and the deed was signed and executed.
Numerous Union soldiers from surrounding battlefields were reinterred here, including those from the different battles of Winchester, the Battle of Front Royal
, Battle of New Market
, Battle of Harpers Ferry
, as well as actions at Snickers Gap
, Martinsburg, West Virginia
, and Romney, West Virginia
.
The cemetery grounds underwent significant renovations during the 1930s, adding walls, maintenance buildings, and improving the headstones.
Winchester National Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1996.
image -
United States National Cemetery
"United States National Cemetery" is a designation for 146 nationally important cemeteries in the United States. A National Cemetery is generally a military cemetery containing the graves of U.S. military personnel, veterans and their spouses but not exclusively so...
located in the city of Winchester
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...
in Frederick County, Virginia
Frederick County, Virginia
Frederick County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is included in the Winchester, Virginia-West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was formed in 1743 by the splitting of Orange County. For ten years it was the home of George Washington. As of 2010, the population was...
. It encompasses 4.9 acres (19,829.6 m²), and as of the end of 2005, it had 5,561 interments. It is closed to new interments.
History
The land around Winchester National Cemetery was used for burials as early as 1862, but after the Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
additional land was appropriated by the federal government and it was officially deicated on April 8, 1866. The land was not legally transferred to the U.S. government until Dec. 1, 1870, when the landowner, Jacob Baker, was paid $1,500 for the 4.89 acres (19,789.1 m²) tract and the deed was signed and executed.
Numerous Union soldiers from surrounding battlefields were reinterred here, including those from the different battles of Winchester, the Battle of Front Royal
Battle of Front Royal
The Battle of Front Royal, also known as Guard Hill or Cedarville, was fought May 23, 1862, in Warren County, Virginia, as part of Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War...
, Battle of New Market
Battle of New Market
The Battle of New Market was a battle fought on May 15, 1864, in Virginia during Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the American Civil War. Cadets from the Virginia Military Institute fought alongside the Confederate Army and forced Union General Franz Sigel and his army out of the Shenandoah...
, Battle of Harpers Ferry
Battle of Harpers Ferry
The Battle of Harpers Ferry was fought September 12–15, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. As Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate army invaded Maryland, a portion of his army under Maj. Gen. Thomas J...
, as well as actions at Snickers Gap
Snickers Gap
Snickers Gap, originally William's Gap, is a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountain on the border of Loudoun County and Clarke County in Virginia. The gap is traversed by Virginia State Route 7. The Appalachian Trail also passes across the gap...
, Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg is a city in the Eastern Panhandle region of West Virginia, United States. The city's population was 14,972 at the 2000 census; according to a 2009 Census Bureau estimate, Martinsburg's population was 17,117, making it the largest city in the Eastern Panhandle and the eighth largest...
, and Romney, West Virginia
Romney, West Virginia
Romney is a city in and the county seat of Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,940 at the 2000 census, while the area covered by the city's ZIP code had a population of 5,873. It is a city with a very historic background dating back to the 18th century...
.
The cemetery grounds underwent significant renovations during the 1930s, adding walls, maintenance buildings, and improving the headstones.
Winchester National Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1996.
image -
Notable monuments
- There are 14 monuments to Union regiments, corps, and states that either are represented by some of the soldiers buried in the cemetery and/or had participants in the 3rd Battle of Winchester. The oldest monument dates to 1864 and was erected for the 38th Massachusetts Infantry. The monuments are as follows:
- 12th Connecticut Infantry Monument (erected by the state of Connecticut on Oct. 19, 1890)
- 13th Connecticut Infantry Monument (erected by the state of Connecticut)
- 18th Connecticut Infantry Monument (erected by the state of Connecticut)
- 14th New Hampshire Infantry Monument (erected 1868)
- 114th New York Infantry Monument (erected by the state of New York)
- 123rd Ohio Infantry123rd Ohio InfantryThe 123rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 123rd Ohio Infantry was organized at Camp Monroeville in Huron County, Ohio and mustered in for three years service on September 24, 1862 under the command of Colonel William T...
Regiment Monument (installed in 1899 by the State of Ohio) - 34th Massachusetts Infantry Monument which includes a marble bust of Col. George D. Wells that sits atop a granite base
- 38th Massachusetts Infantry Monument (erected 1864)
- 3rd Massachusetts Cavalry Monument (dedicated in 1888)
- a Massachusetts Monument features a bronze soldier atop a granite base (erected by the State of Massachusetts in 1907)
- a Pennsylvania Monument (erected in 1890 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)
- two monuments for the 8th Vermont Infantry (one of these was erected in 1885 by Herbert E. Hill)
- a monument to the 6th Army Corps (erected shortly after the Civil War).
- There are also two "monuments," typical to National Cemeteries created for reinterred Union soldiers. They are both seven feet, six inches (152 mm) in height, and are made of an original cast iron seacoast artillery tube, secured by a concrete base. One is located on each side of the flagpole. There is no inscription on either monument.
- An upright historical marker typical of those erected by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources is also near the opening of the cemetery, with a focus on the Third Battle of Winchester.
See also
- United States Department of Veterans AffairsUnited States Department of Veterans AffairsThe United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the United States government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense...
- United States National CemeteryUnited States National Cemetery"United States National Cemetery" is a designation for 146 nationally important cemeteries in the United States. A National Cemetery is generally a military cemetery containing the graves of U.S. military personnel, veterans and their spouses but not exclusively so...