Battleground National Cemetery

During the late evening of July 12, 1864, 40 Union soldiers who perished while defending Washington DC from a two day Confederate attack known as the Battle of Fort Stevens were laid to rest here in what was once an apple orchard. President Abraham Lincoln attended the burial ceremony and dedicated the land as hallowed ground, making Battleground National Cemetery one of America's smallest national cemeteries. Between the 1870s and early 1900s, a Superintendent's Lodge, rostrum, flagpole, and regimental monuments were added to the cemetery to honor the men who sacrificed their lives to preserve the nation and its capital city. In addition to the fallen soldiers, the cemetery also holds the remains of the wife and three children of August Armbrecht, the cemetery's original superintendent.

Washington, District of Columbia · United States