Hampton National Cemetery

“In addition to interments made from the military hospitals at and near Fort Monroe, cemetery burial records in 1868 indicated that remains had been brought to the Hampton National Cemetery from the military posts of Fort Monroe; Big Bethel in Elizabeth City County (now the city of Hampton); Newport News in Warwick County; Jamestown in James City County; Craney Island, Deep Creek, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Blackwater in Norfolk County; Smithfield in Isle of Wight County; Suffolk in Nansemond County and Cherry Stone in Northampton County.” This text is from the  National Register of Historic Places – Final Nomination Form – Hampton National Cemetery – Hampton, Virginia – #114-01480, page 14.

“The great number of sick and wounded soldiers during the Civil War resulted in numerous military hospitals being set up near battle sites. A 1,800-bed military hospital was established at Fort Monroe, near Hampton. Although the Fort Monroe hospital was better staffed and organized than many Civil War hospitals, the mortality rate was high. Consequently, burials at Hampton National Cemetery included many soldiers who died at Fort Monroe and other military hospitals in the vicinity. Although burials began at the cemetery in 1862, it was not classified by the U.S. Government as a national cemetery until 1866. The legal transfer of 4.749 acres for the cemetery did not occur until 1868.”
National Cemetery Administration: Hampton National Cemetery

 

Was your person of interest buried in a national cemetery?
Try grave locator on the National Cemetery Administration website. This database includes all national cemeteries.

Was your person of interest buried at Hampton National Cemetery?
Find A Grave volunteers have photographed 95% of the gravestones at Hampton National Cemetery.

See also the website Lest We Forget: African American Military History by Historian, Author, and Veteran Bennie McCrae, Jr. for “United States Colored Civil War Veterans and A White Officer.” It’s a database of burials at Hampton National Cemetery.  Mr. McCrae is an Associate Member, Sargeant Elijah P. Marrs Camp #5, Department of Kentucky, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.  He edited and posted images of gravestones that were photographed, researched and submitted by John Hall, Graves Registration Officer, Colonel James Brady Camp #63, Department of Maryland, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Enter “Hampton National Cemetery” in the search box on his website’s main page and you can access each segment within the database.

Interested in other burial grounds?
Scroll to the bottom of Mr. McCrae’s website and click on “Resting Places” for more sources.

 

Keep in mind, these are just some of the possibilities. Veterans were buried in local cemeteries, churchyards and family property. Those who died sick and destitute were buried in hospital and almshouse graveyards. I’ve come across one burial at sea. It’ll be posted soon.