By Tom Emery

Memorial Day is a time of remembrance and reflection on those veterans who served our nation and were lost. Some honor those who gave their lives by spending part of the day in national cemeteries, a solemn reminder of the legacy of the American military.

There are 10 national cemeteries in Illinois, where thousands of former military men and women rest in well-maintained grounds. Such cemeteries are found across the state, from out-of-the-way corners of existing graveyards to sprawling burial sites where thousands of deceased veterans now lay.

National cemeteries were developed during the Civil War in response to increasing war casualties. On July 17, 1862, Congress authorized President Lincoln “to purchase cemetery grounds and cause them to be securely enclosed, to be used as a national cemetery for the soldiers who shall die in the service of the country.”

Fourteen sites were designated as the first national cemeteries that year, including Camp Butler in Springfield, a former Civil War training site that is now one of the largest burial sites for veterans in the state. With over 20,000 graves, it is second in Illinois only to the Rock Island National Cemetery, with more than 25,000.

By comparison, the smallest in the state is the Alton National Cemetery, located in a corner of the old city cemetery, with 522 grave sites in a half-acre plot. Similarly, the Quincy National Cemetery houses approximately 700 graves.

Other national cemeteries in Illinois are found at Mound City, Danville, and the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, the newest of the state’s veterans’ burial sites, established in 1999.

There are also three Confederate cemeteries in Illinois under Veterans Administration control, including Alton, Rock Island, and the so-called Confederate mound in south Chicago. All three were established to receive Southern dead from nearby prisoner-of-war camps.

By 1870, some 300,000 Union dead from the Civil War had been interred in 73 national cemeteries.

In 1872, Congress amended the rules of national cemeteries to include “all sailors and soldiers honorably discharged from the service of the United States who may die in a destitute condition.” The next year, Marines were added to the list, and others have been included in subsequent actions since.

Today, there are 150 national cemeteries across the nation, which house 3.8 million burials in a total of 20,000 acres. Around 100,000 of those graves have unknown identities.

Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville, Ill. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or [email protected].