Veterans Day is a time of remembrance and reflection not only for surviving veterans who served our nation but also those who were lost. Some spend part of the day in national cemeteries, a solemn reminder of the legacy of the American military.
There are 10 national cemeteries in Illinois, where thousands of former military men and women rest in well-maintained grounds. Such cemeteries are found across the state, from out-of-the-way corners of existing graveyards to sprawling burial sites where thousands of veterans now lay to rest.
National cemeteries were developed during the Civil War in response to increasing war casualties. On July 17, 1862, Congress authorized President Abraham Lincoln “to purchase cemetery grounds and cause them to be securely enclosed to be used as a national cemetery for the soldiers who shall die in the service of the country.”
Fourteen sites were designated as the first national cemeteries that year, including Camp Butler in Springfield, a former Civil War training site that now is one of the largest burial sites for veterans in the state. With more than 20,000 graves, it ranks in Illinois behind the Rock Island National Cemetery, which has more than 25,000, and the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, which at full capacity will have more than 400,000 internments.
By comparison, the smallest in the state is the Alton National Cemetery, located in a corner of the old city cemetery, which has 522 gravesites on a half-acre plot. Similarly, the Quincy National Cemetery houses about 700 graves.
Other national cemeteries in Illinois are found at Mound City, Danville and the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, the newest of the state’s veteran burial sites established in 1999.
There also are three Confederate cemeteries in Illinois under Veterans Administration control, including Alton, Rock Island and the so-called Confederate mound in South Chicago. All three were established to receive Southern dead from nearby prisoner-of-war camps.
By 1870, about 300,000 Union dead from the Civil War had been interred in 73 national cemeteries.
In 1872, Congress amended the rules of national cemeteries to include “all sailors and soldiers honorably discharged from the service of the United States who may die in a destitute condition.”
The next year, Marines were added to the list, and others have been included in subsequent actions since.
Today, there are 150 national cemeteries across the U.S. that house 3.8 million burials on a total of 20,000 acres. About 100,000 of those graves have unknown identities.
Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville. He can be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to note that Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery will have more than 400,000 internments at full capacity.