Baton Rouge National Cemetery Built for Sacred Sleep | Entertainment / Living

The Civil War created our national cemetery. 620,000 people died, or 10% of the population in the 1860s.

In 1862, Baton Rouge’s Civil War was centered on the east side of the city. Specifically, most of the fighting took place inside the Magnolia Cemetery, near the intersection of 19th Street and Florida. By 1867, a military cemetery had been established nearby, and the federal government began a peacetime campaign to bury war dead in appropriate final resting places. Bury the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth Soldiers, that’s all. Family and friends take on the responsibilities of the “camping dead” confederates.

In 1850, Theodore O’Hara wrote a touching short poem titled “The Camp of the Dead”, in which the lines were “In the camp of eternal fame/Their silent tents Expand.”

Cemeteries like Baton Rouge National Cemetery share several of the same necessary characteristics. The most conspicuous of course are the rows of upright white marble tombstones, and tents are neatly placed on the battlefield. Other requests from the Veterans Administration (now the National Cemetery Administration) include a strong fence around the holy site and a permanent copy of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. According to records, the strong fences in Baton Rouge were made of brick and stucco.

The cemetery also includes a government-required podium or bandstand for ceremonies and speeches, and a hut, which is the home of the cemetery administrator. At the entrance is the mandatory flagpole of the Stars and Stripes.

BREC and NCA crews often have to step in to repair iron and historic masonry damage caused by cars hitting fences. Both cemeteries are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Baton Rouge National Cemetery is a 7.7-acre rectangle that rests more than 5,000 Confederate heroes, including three Confederate soldiers.

However, according to the cemetery website, there are no more burials. Like federal cemeteries across the U.S., many are marked “unknown.” Before dog tags were commonly worn in the military, soldiers who died in combat, died of disease and injury on the field or in hospital, and died of starvation were not always identified. It is said that many soldiers before a horrific battle would staple a piece of paper to their uniform with their name and perhaps their hometown on it.

These Veterans Cemetery Mandatory Fixtures all exist in our city’s National Cemetery, though they have been demolished and rebuilt over the years. There are many parades on Decor Day in Baton Rouge, primarily planned by the sons and daughters of veterans, the Grand Army of the Republic, the Cadet Corps, state and local officials, and more.

Newspaper reports in the 1890s stated that the procession included stops not only at Magnolia Cemetery, but also at Catholic, Jewish and National cemeteries. Notably, the grounds were filled with flowers and the parade was disbanded. The Weekly Advocate of June 3, 1899 recounts the National Cemetery-centered National Decoration Day (Memorial Day in May) ceremony. All students at Live Oak School House on South Boulevard participated in a parade led by the Southern Cornet Band. Following the Patriotic Project, Alice Washington gave moving speeches for the Women’s Relief Corps and Professor Brendon for the Army of the Republic.

If readers and cemetery lovers want to learn more about all the cemeteries in Baton Rouge, historian Fay Phillips has published a aptly titled “Baton Rouge Cemetery.” This volume provides complete chapters on Baton Rouge National Cemetery as well as more than seven other urban cemeteries.

The highest-ranking officer buried is probably Philemon Thomas, born in Orange County, Virginia, in 1763. In 1806, the general came to Louisiana, and in 1810 commanded troops that captured the Spanish fort in Baton Rouge. General Thomas died in 1847, and his marble tombstone erected by his children bears a loving tribute as a patriot, good citizen, good father and staunch Christian.

The largest monument on the grounds is the Massachusetts Obelisk, adorned with a huge bronze decoration that may be an eagle or a phoenix. Both fit the sad, intense emotions of the mothers, fathers, friends and citizens of their own country who sent these young “Confederate warriors” to fight in Louisiana. The August Column bears the title of a military unit that fights far from home.

November brings All Saints’ Day on November 1, All Souls’ Day on November 2, and Veterans Day on November 11, which is a holy day no matter what day of the week it is. On November 11, 1918, the ceasefire in Europe was first named Armistice Day to commemorate the end of the First World War. The nabob of Washington, D.C. changed the national holiday to a three-day weekend in 1968. Call for a commemoration on the fourth Monday in October. However, history and patriotism literally won the day, President Gerald Ford signed a new law in 1975 and henceforth Veterans Day will reappear, always on November 11th held.

The site includes links from the National Cemetery Service with tons of information—from lesson plans to historical pictures to the Find Graves feature: https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/ncp/BatonRouge.asp#ed .