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Elmira, New York, Graves of Confederate Soldiers, Woodlawn National Cemetery, photos

Elmira, New York, Graves of Confederate Soldiers, Woodlawn National Cemetery

Over the course of thirteen months, between July 1864 and August 1865, 2,973 Confederate soldiers were buried here at Woodlawn National Cemetery, Elmira, New York. This cemetery is located a short distance from the former Elmira Military Prison, Elmira, New York where more than 12,000 Confederate soldiers were held prisoner during the Civil War. Nearly one in four of the prisoners held here died due to the poor living conditions. Amazingly, all 2,973 soldiers here were buried by a single man, John W. Jones, a former slave who had been hired for the job. Jones felt that it was his duty to bury each soldier with honor and dignity. See the additional photos below.

Monument honoring John W. Jones, a former slave, who dug the graves and buried each of the 2,973 Confederate soldiers buried in Woodlawn National Cemetery, Elmira, New York.

A photo of the monument honoring John W. Jones, a former slave, who dug the graves and buried each of the 2,973 Confederate soldiers buried in Woodlawn National Cemetery, Elmira, New York.

An informational marker erected in Woodlawn National Cemetery describing the history of the Confederate burial section of the cemetery.

An informational marker erected in Woodlawn National Cemetery describing the history of the Confederate burial section of the cemetery. The text on the marker reads as follows:

Confederate Burials In The National Cemetery

Elmira Prison Camp
"Overcrowding at the military prison at Point Lookout, Maryland, led the U. S. army to establish Elmira Military Prison in May 1864. Elmira, New York, initially a rendevous point for enlisting Union soldiers, had barracks, hospitals. storehouses and stables. The first prisoners arrived on July 6 and by fall 1864, more than 9,000 prisoners occupied Elmira. Most lived in small canvas tents, as barracks would not be completed until New Year's Day 1865, too late for many prisoners.

More than 12,000 prisoners passed through the gates of the prison during the year it operated. Almost 3,000 men died, rendering Elmira's mortality rate the highest of any Union military prison. Most of the deaths were attributed to the harsh winter of 1864-1865.

The Cemetery
Almost immediately, the U.S. Army leased a half acre of land from Woodlawn Cemetery for the interment of Confederate prisoners and Union soldiers. The prison commandant hired John W. Jones, an escaped slave and caretaker of Woodlawn Cemetery, to bury the Confederates. When a prisoner died, his body was taken to the “dead house” and placed in a coffin. His name, rank, company, regiment, date of death, and grave number were written on the lid. At the cemetery, the coffin was placed in a trench and covered. Wooden headboards, painted with the information copied from the coffin lid, marked each grave. On a single day, Jones buried forty-eight men; he kept records on every burial.

In 1874, the federal government purchased two acres containing the graves of Union and Confederate dead to establish Woodlawn National Cemetery. The Commission for Marking Graves of Confederate Dead visited the cemetery in 1906. The Commission clerk spent a month documenting prison burials and wrote to Southern states asking for further information. Finally, a list of more than 2,000 names was compiled. In 1908, the Commission placed Confederate style headstones inscribed with the deceased's name and regiment on the graves.

Toward Reconcillation
On May 30, 1868, the Grand Army of the Republic decorated Union and Confederate graves at Arlington National Cemetery. Thirty years later President William McKinley proclaimed:
The Union is once more the common altar of our love and loyalty, our devotion and sacrifice . . . Every soldier's grave made during our unfortunate Civil War is a tribute to American valor . . . in the spirit of fraternity we should share with you in the care of the graves of the Confederate soldiers.

The War Department created the Confederate section at Arlington in 1901, and marked the graves with distinctive pointed-top marble headstones. Five years later, Congress created the Commission for Marking Graves of Confederate Dead to identify and mark the graves of Confederates who died in Northern prisons. Its mission was later expanded to encompass all national cemeteries that contained Confederate burials.

Four former Confederate officers headed the Commission over its lifetime. By 1916, it had marked in excess of 25,500 graves and erected monuments in locations where individual graves could not be identified.

In 1930, the War Department authorized the addition of the Southern Cross of Honor to the Confederate headstone."


Elmira is in Chemung County, New York.

View historical photos of Elmira Military Prison, Elmira, New York

View the grave and monuments of John W. Jones, who buried each of the Confederate Soldiers

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