Kittrell Confederate Cemetery

Fifty-four Confederate soldiers from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia are buried here after dying at General Hospital Number One at Kittrell Springs in the former Kittrell Springs Hotel, owned by Major Charles C. Blacknall and his brother. The resort was converted into a hospital in mid-1864 to treat casualties from the fighting around Petersburg, Virginia, and Confederate authorities chose Kittrell for the small 300-bed hospital because of its location at a railroad junction. Hundreds of wounded received treatment there between June 1864 and April 1865. Some were teenaged youths in the North Carolina Junior Reserves; 14 died at the hospital between August 1, 1864, and April 15, 1865, and were buried here. The cemetery site was selected because of its proximity to the hospital. Saint James Episcopal Church, the only church in Kittrell during the war, was erected just east of the hotel shortly before the war. The Reverend Matthias M. Marshall ministered to the sick and dying at the hospital and officiated at the soldiers’ funerals, which were held at the church. The men’s names, ranks, companies, addresses, types of illness, dates of admission, and times of death are recorded in the church’s official records. The cemetery is owned and maintained by Vance County Chapter Number 142, United Daughters of the Confederacy.

North Carolina · United States