Winchester National Cemetery

	Winchester National Cemetery
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Virginia Landmarks Register
	Pennsylvania Memorial
Location	401 National Ave., Winchester, Virginia
Coordinates	39°11′04″N 78°09′23″W / 39.18444°N 78.15639°W
Area	4.9 acres (2.0 ha)
Architect	Meigs, Montgomery C.
Architectural style	Tudor Revival
MPS	Civil War Era National Cemeteries MPS
NRHP reference No.	96000032
VLR No.	138-0035
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	February 26, 1996
Designated VLR	October 18, 1995

Winchester National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of Winchester in Frederick County, Virginia. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses 4.9 acres (2.0 ha), and as of the end of 2005, it had 5,561 interments. It is closed to new interments.

The cemetery was used for burials of Union soldiers. The Stonewall Confederate Cemetery was for Confederate soldiers.^[3]

History

The land around Winchester National Cemetery was used for burials as early as 1862, but after the Civil War additional land was appropriated by the federal government and it was officially dedicated on April 8, 1866. The land was not legally transferred to the U.S. government until Dec. 1, 1870, when the landowner, Jacob Baker, was paid $1,500 for the 4.89-acre (1.98 ha) tract and the deed was signed and executed.^[4]

Numerous Union soldiers from surrounding battlefields were reinterred here, including those from the different battles of Winchester, the Battle of Front Royal, Battle of New Market, Battle of Harpers Ferry, as well as actions at Snickers Gap, Martinsburg, West Virginia, and Romney, West Virginia.

The cemetery grounds underwent significant renovations during the 1930s, adding walls, maintenance buildings, and improving the headstones.

Winchester National Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

Notable monuments

There are 14 monuments to Union regiments, corps, and states that either are represented by some of the soldiers buried in the cemetery and/or had participants in the 3rd Battle of Winchester. The oldest monument dates to 1864 and was erected for the 38th Massachusetts Infantry. The monuments are as follows:
- 12th Connecticut Infantry Monument (erected by the state of Connecticut on Oct. 19, 1890)
- 13th Connecticut Infantry Monument (erected by the state of Connecticut)
- 18th Connecticut Infantry Monument (erected by the state of Connecticut)
- 14th New Hampshire Infantry Monument (erected 1868)
- 114th New York Infantry Monument (erected by the state of New York)
- 123rd Ohio Infantry Regiment Monument (installed in 1899 by the State of Ohio)
- 34th Massachusetts Infantry Monument which includes a marble bust of Col. George D. Wells that sits atop a granite base
- 38th Massachusetts Infantry Monument (erected 1864)
- 3rd Massachusetts Cavalry Monument (dedicated in 1888)
- a Massachusetts Monument features a bronze soldier atop a granite base (erected by the State of Massachusetts in 1907)
- a Pennsylvania Monument (erected in 1890 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)
- two monuments for the 8th Vermont Infantry (one of these was erected in 1885 by Herbert E. Hill)
- a monument to the 6th Army Corps (erected shortly after the Civil War).
There are also two "monuments," typical to National Cemeteries created for reinterred Union soldiers. They are both seven feet, six inches (152 mm) in height, and are made of an original cast iron seacoast artillery tube, secured by a concrete base. One is located on each side of the flagpole. There is no inscription on either monument.
An upright historical marker typical of those erected by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources is also near the opening of the cemetery, with a focus on the Third Battle of Winchester.

Gallery

Winchester National Cemetery in 2022

References

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
^ See: Stonewall Confederate Cemetery 39°11′00″N 78°09′23″W / 39.18333°N 78.15639°W / 39.18333; -78.15639
^ Therese T. Sammartino (October 1995). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Winchester National Cemetery" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo

External links

National Cemetery Administration
Winchester National Cemetery
Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) No. VA-19, "Winchester National Cemetery, 401 National Avenue, Winchester, Winchester, VA", 47 photos, 5 photo caption pages
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Winchester National Cemetery
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Winchester National Cemetery
Winchester National Cemetery at Find a Grave

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.

[register-2] "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013.

[3] See: Stonewall Confederate Cemetery 39°11′00″N 78°09′23″W / 39.18333°N 78.15639°W / 39.18333; -78.15639

[VAnom-4] Therese T. Sammartino (October 1995). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Winchester National Cemetery" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Frederick County, Virginia, in the American Civil War
Battles	First Battle of Kernstown First Battle of Winchester Second Battle of Winchester Battle of Snicker's Ferry Battle of Rutherford's Farm Second Battle of Kernstown Battle of Berryville Third Battle of Winchester Battle of Cedar Creek (or Belle Grove)
Raids and expeditions	Great Train Raid of 1861 John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry Virginia v. John Brown Romney Expedition
Units	33rd Virginia Infantry
People	Turner Ashby Nathaniel Banks Watson Brown John A. Copeland Shields Green Frederick W. M. Holliday Stonewall Jackson Mary Greenhow Lee James M. Mason Cornelia Peake McDonald Hunter McGuire Richard Parker
Places and tourism	Belle Grove Plantation Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park Fort Collier Museum of the Shenandoah Valley Shenandoah Valley Civil War Museum Stonewall Confederate Cemetery Stonewall Jackson's Headquarters Museum Third Winchester Battlefield Park Winchester Medical College Winchester National Cemetery

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