Camp Butler National Cemetery
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (March 2018) |
Camp Butler National Cemetery | |
NRHP reference No. | 97000891 |
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Added to NRHP | August 15, 1997[1] |
Camp Butler National Cemetery is a
History
During the
Since Governor Yates was unfamiliar with the land around Springfield, the state capital of Illinois, he enlisted the aid of then-State Treasurer William Butler, who along with
Along with the soldiers who fought on both sides of the Civil War, veterans who lost their lives in the
Civil War
Originally the camp was designed to train and "muster-in" Illinois troops for the Civil War. It was quickly pressed into service to house the approximately 2,000 Confederate soldiers who had been taken prisoner at the surrender of Fort Donelson, in Tennessee on February 16, 1862.
An area was set aside for the burial of Confederate prisoners of war who died at the camp. As many as 700 prisoners died in 1862 when smallpox and other diseases were rampant in the camp. The situation was aggravated by the poor living conditions the prisoners endured there, and they were interred in the cemetery in their own Confederate section. A total of 866 Confederate prisoner's graves can be found today in the National Cemetery. The Confederate graves are easily distinguishable by the pointed headstones, which were instituted under the superstition that it was a means of preventing the devil from sitting on their graves. They are buried side by side with 776 graves of Union soldiers and enlistees, making a total of 1,642 Civil War graves.
Notable interments
- Seaman John H. Catherwood (1888–1930), Medal of Honor recipient for action in the Philippine–American War[2]
- Jack D. Davis (1935–2018), US Representative
- Frank S. Dickson (1876–1953), US Representative[3]
- Colonel African American officer during World War I[2]
- Ray Ramsey (1921–2009), professional football player[4]
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ a b "Camp Butler National Cemetery". US Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
- ^ Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- ^ Butler Funeral Homes
External links
Media related to Camp Butler National Cemetery at Wikimedia Commons
- National Cemetery Administration
- Camp Butler National Cemetery
- Website authored by the writer Jeffrey P. Johnson, authoring a book on the entire history of the camp, from 1861 to present
- Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) No. IL-7, "Camp Butler National Cemetery, 5063 Camp Butler Road, Springfield, Sangamon County, IL", 36 photos, 3 photo caption pages
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Camp Butler National Cemetery
- Camp Butler National Cemetery at Find a Grave