Cemeteries, Military
Cemeteries, Military.Few provisions were made prior to the Civil War for the maintenance of permanent cemeteries for Americans who died in military service. After battle, the dead were buried in hastily dug graves on the site or at nearby civilian cemeteries. In peacetime, commanders at many forts and outposts, such as Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in the 1840s, established burial grounds for soldiers who died. In the aftermath of the Mexican War, the United States established a cemetery in Mexico City for U.S. soldiers killed during the capture of that city.
During the Civil War, the U.S. government established a permanent national cemetery system in 1862 for uniformed personnel. Most of these army‐maintained cemeteries were located near a military hospital or major battlefield, although the battle dead were still frequently buried in scores of smaller, scattered plots, and the dead of losing...
[The entire page is 1124 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
