Spotsylvania Confederate Cemetery

 cemetery, confederate

www.usa-civil-war.com/Spotsylvania/spots_7.html

In this cemetery rest some 600 Confederate soldiers that were killed on the Civil War battlefields of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, The Wilderness and Spotsylvania. They came from ten Confederate States, to fight for the Confederate cause here in Virginia. One-third of the Battles in the Civil War were fought in Virginia, and one-third of these battles were fought in Spotsylvania County.

The Spotsylvania Museum has a roster of Confederate veterans buried in this cemetery, as well as a list of other burials here.

When the Civil War ended, the debris of the recent battles in Spotsylvania County remained a constant reminder of the tragic conflict that had swept over Spotsylvania Court House. Hundreds of Confederate sons lay in crudely marked graves scattered over the nearby battlefields. Local women concerned about these unattended plots formed the Spotsylvania Memorial Association. In 1866 they established a Confederate Cemetery on five acres of land a half mile northeast of the Court House.

The Association reburied nearly 600 soldiers in the new location. Most are identified and organized by state. A few remain unknown. Headstones provided by the Federal Government mark all of the graves. In the center of the cemetery is a granite shaft crowned by a stone Confederate soldier who silently stands watch over the dead. A roster of the known dead is now online. The Park staff is currently developing a data base that will include the names of every soldier who died in the Fredericksburg area as well as information about them. Eventually this data base will be online.

To reach the Spotsylvania Confederate Cemetery, travel from the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center south on Lafayette Boulevard and Route 208 about 9 miles. The cemetery is on the left 0.7 mile past the Spotsylvania Battlefield tour road exit. The entrance is marked by a shrubbery-lined driveway. The cemetery is open daily.