The Civil War created our national cemeteries. Six hundred and twenty thousand died, calculated at 10% of the population in the 1860s.
In 1862, the Civil War battle in Baton Rouge was concentrated on the east side of the city. Specifically, much of the fighting took place inside Magnolia Cemetery near the intersection of 19th and Florida Streets. In 1867, a military cemetery was formed nearby and the federal government had begun a peacetime campaign to bury the war dead in proper final resting places. Burying the Union, Federal soldiers, that is. Families and friends had the responsibility of “living the dead” Confederates.
In 1850, Theodore O’Hara wrote a poignant short poem entitled “The Bivouac of the Dead,” with the lines “In fame’s eternal camp / Their silent tents are spread.”
Cemeteries like Baton Rouge National Cemetery have many of the same necessary features. The highlight, of course, is the sight of row after row of upright white marble headstones, set up like orderly tents on a battlefield. Other requirements of the Veterans Administration, now the National Cemetery Administration, include a strong fence surrounding the hallowed ground and a perpetual copy of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. For the record, Baton Rouge’s strong fence is made of brick and stucco.
Baton Rouge National Cemetery includes many features required by the National Cemetery Administration. At the entrance was the mandatory flagpole for the stars and stripes.
The cemetery also includes the government-required tribune, or kiosk, for ceremonies and speeches, as well as a lodge, which was the home of the cemetery superintendent. At the entrance was the mandatory flagpole for the stars and stripes.
BREC and NCA workers often have to step in to repair the destruction with a painstaking replica of the historic iron and masonry caused by automobiles crashing into the fences. Both cemeteries are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Baton Rouge National Cemetery is a 7.7-acre rectangle with more than 5,000 Union heroes resting in peace, including three Confederate soldiers.
There are no more burials, however, according to the cemetery’s website. Like federal cemeteries in the United States, many of the markers say “Unknown.” Before the universal use of dog tags by the military, soldiers who died on the line of fire, died of disease and wounds on the battlefield or in hospitals, and died of starvation were not always identified. It is said that many soldiers, before a dreaded fight, would attach a piece of paper with their name and perhaps their home state to their uniform.
These obligatory fixtures of veteran cemeteries are all present in our city’s national cemetery, although torn down and rebuilt over the years. Many parades were held on Decoration Day in Baton Rouge and were planned primarily by sons and daughters of veterans, the Grand Army of the Republic, Corps of Cadets, state and local officials and others.
There are no more burials at Baton Rouge National Cemetery, according to the website. Like federal cemeteries in the United States, many of the markers say “Unknown.”
Newspapers from the 1890s tell of the march including stops not only at Magnolia Cemetery, but also at the Catholic, Jewish, and National Cemeteries. The grounds were noted to be full of flowers, and the parade disbanded. The Weekly Advocate of June 3, 1899, discusses National Decoration Day (Memorial Day in May) ceremonies centered around the National Cemetery. The entire student body at Live Oak School House, located on South Boulevard, participated in a parade that was led by the Southern Cornet Band. The patriotic program was followed by moving speeches by Alice Washington for the Ladies’ Relief Corps and Professor Blunden for the Grand Army of the Republic.
If readers and cemetery lovers want to learn more about all of Baton Rouge’s cemeteries, historian Faye Phillips published a book titled “Baton Rouge Cemeteries.” The volume offers an entire chapter on Baton Rouge National Cemetery, along with more than seven other cemeteries in the city.
Perhaps the highest-ranking officer buried is Philemon Thomas, born in Orange County, Virginia, in 1763. The general arrived in Louisiana in 1806 and commanded the forces that captured the Spanish fort at Baton Rouge in 1810. General Thomas died in 1847, and his The tablet on the marble tomb, erected by his sons, is inscribed with a loving tribute honoring him as a patriot, good citizen, kind father, and staunch Christian.
The largest monument in the grounds is the Massachusetts Obelisk adorned with a massive bronze decoration, perhaps an eagle or a phoenix. Both suited the painful and strong feelings of the mothers, fathers, friends, and citizens of the home state who sent these young men, “the brave Federals,” to fight in Louisiana. The August column bears the titles of the military units that fought so far from their homeland.
Baton Rouge National Cemetery is a 7.7-acre rectangle with more than 5,000 Union heroes resting in peace, including three Confederate soldiers.
November brings All Saints’ Day on November 1st, All Souls’ Day on November 2nd, and Veterans Day on November 11th, a holy date regardless of the day of the week it falls on. It was first named Armistice Day in honor of the end of World War I when a cease-fire occurred in Europe on November 11, 1918. The Nawabs of Washington, DC, in 1968 made the national holiday on a three-day weekend by asking for the remembrance to take place on the fourth Monday in October. However, the historical and patriotic significance won the day, literally, with President Gerald Ford signing a new law in 1975 that would henceforth return Veterans Day to always be celebrated on November 11.
The National Cemetery Administration’s complete website with links containing remarkable and voluminous information, from lesson plans to historical images to the ability to “Find a Grave” is: https://www.cem.va .gov/cems/nchp/BatonRouge.asp #ed.
