GeorgiaAndersonville National Cemetery grew out of the burial trenches dug for the Union prisoners who died at the nearby Camp Sumter military prison, where nearly 13,000 captives perished from disease, exposure, contaminated water, and starvation during the last fourteen months of the Civil War. The federal government formally designated the grounds a national cemetery on July 26, 1865, and because a paroled prisoner named Dorence Atwater had secretly copied the death registry, he and Red Cross founder Clara Barton were able to match names to roughly 95 percent of the numbered graves during an 1865 expedition. The cemetery adjoins Andersonville National Historic Site and is the only national cemetery administered by the National Park Service that remains open for the burial of veterans and their families, still averaging well over a hundred interments a year.
Andersonville National Cemetery
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Andersonville National Cemetery is a cemetery in Andersonville, Macon County. It is one of 15 cemeteries documented in Macon County, among 35 historic sites cataloged across the county on Georgia Roam.
The site sits at 32.2035, -84.1319 near Andersonville. The nearest cataloged historic site is The Unknown Soldier (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include New York State Monument, Andersonville National Historic Site, and National Prisoner of War Museum.
This record is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
Andersonville National Cemetery grew out of the burial trenches dug for the Union prisoners who died at the nearby Camp Sumter military prison, where nearly 13,000 captives perished from disease, exposure, contaminated water, and starvation during the last fourteen months of the Civil War. The federal government formally designated the grounds a national cemetery on July 26, 1865, and because a paroled prisoner named Dorence Atwater had secretly copied the death registry, he and Red Cross founder Clara Barton were able to match names to roughly 95 percent of the numbered graves during an 1865 expedition. The cemetery adjoins Andersonville National Historic Site and is the only national cemetery administered by the National Park Service that remains open for the burial of veterans and their families, still averaging well over a hundred interments a year.
Sources: nps.govnps.govbattlefields.org
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