Woodlawn National Cemetery is a

United States National Cemetery The United States National Cemetery System is a system of 164 cemeteries in the United States and its territories. The authority to create military burial places came during the American Civil War, in an act passed by the U.S. Congress o ...

within Woodlawn Cemetery, which is in the city of Elmira, in Chemung County, New York. Administered by the

United States Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

, it encompasses , and as of 2021, had over 11,000 interred remains.

History

In 1861, Camp Rathbun, near the town of Elmira, was established as a training camp at the beginning of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. As the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

troops who trained there were sent to their respective assignments, the camp emptied and in 1864 it was turned into the

Elmira Prison Elmira Prison was originally a barracks for "Camp Rathbun" or "Camp Chemung", a key muster and training point for the Union Army during the American Civil War, between 1861 and 1864. The site was selected partially due to its proximity to the E ...

prisoner-of-war camp. The facilities were not adequate to house the thousands of

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

prisoners, and many succumbed to exposure, malnutrition, and

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

and were subsequently interred at the cemetery. Woodlawn National Cemetery was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2004.

Notable monuments

* The U.S. government erected the Shohola Monument in 1911 to commemorate a tragic railroad accident that took the lives of both Confederate and Union soldiers during the Civil War in 1864. * In 1937, the

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, ...

erected a monument by sculptor Frederick Sievers in memory of those Confederate prisoners of war who died while imprisoned in Elmira.

Gallery

File:Confederate monument Elmira NY.jpg, Confederate Monument. Image:Woodlawn National Cemetery.jpg, Woodlawn National Cemetery

References

External links

National Cemetery Administration

Woodlawn National Cemetery
* * {{Find a Grave cemetery Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) United States national cemeteries Tourist attractions in Chemung County, New York Buildings and structures in Elmira, New York Cemeteries in Chemung County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Chemung County, New York 1864 establishments in New York (state)