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Post Battle - National Cemetery

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National Cemetery - Modern Description(s)

FROM: National Park Service signage at National Cemetery, June 2000.

After the Battle of Shiloh, Federal details buried the dead of both sides near where they fell. The warm weather and great number of bodies made it necessary to bury the dead quickly.

In 1866 the United States Government established this cemetery for the permanent burial of Union soldiers killed at Shiloh and related engagements. Bodies were recovered from the battlefeild and reburied here, often in regimental groupings. The Confederate dead remain in five mass graves on the battlefield.

Two-thirds of the 3,500 Civil War soldiers resting here are unknown. many tombstones bear a number only. Others read simply: "U.S. SOLDIER."

CIVIL WAR BURIALS ACCORDING TO STATES

Shiloh National Cemetery

Statistics Taken From The Quartermaster General's

Roll of Honor, March 1869

State Represented -------------------- Alabama Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Michigan Minnesota Missouri Nebraska New Jersey Ohio Tennessee Wisconsin OTHER -------------------- TOTAL

Known -------- 1 376 122 143 -- 35 1 36 1 43 8 3 236 8 59 155 -------- 1,227

Unknown ----------- -- 33 1 -- 1 -- -- -- -- 1 -- -- 2 1 2 2,316 --------- 2,357

Total ------ 1 409 123 143 1 35 1 36 1 44 8 3 238 9 61 2,471 ------ 3,584

FROM: Shiloh Historical Handbook Series - publication of the National Park Service. 1961.

Shiloh National Cemetery was established in 1866 and embraces an area of 10.2 acres. In the cemetery are interred 3,695 bodies, two-thirds of whom are unidentified. Besides the Union soldiers killed in the Battle of Shiloh, the cemetery holds many of the dead from nearby battlefields. In addition, a number of those who served in the Spanish-American War, both World Wars, and one from the Revolutionary War are buried here. Only two Confederates are buried in the cemetery. Both died while being held as prisoners of war.

The Wisconsin Color Guard Memorial is located at the east end of the cemetery on the bluff overlooking the Tennessee River. Another interesting feature of the cemetery is the pyramid of 32-pounder cannon erected by the United States Government to mark the site of the tree used by General Grant as headquarters on the night of April 6 [, 1862].

National Cemetery - Modern Photograph(s)

National Cemetery - QTVR Panorama Movie(s)