Port Hudson National Cemetery

Infobox_nrhp | name =Port Hudson National Cemetery
nrhp_type = nhl


caption =Port Hudson National Cemetery, after Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts placed flags on every grave marker in honor of Memorial Day (2006)
location= Zachary, Louisiana
locmapin = Louisiana
area =
built =1863
architect= Meigs, Montgomery C.
architecture= Second Empire
designated = May 30, 1974cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1440&ResourceType=Site
title=Port Hudson|date=2008-06-24|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = May 20, 1999
governing_body = VETERANS ADMINISTRATION
mpsub=Civil War Era National Cemeteries MPS
refnum=99000591cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Port Hudson National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Port Hudson, convert|20|mi|km north of the city of Baton Rouge in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. It encompasses convert|19.9|acre|m2, and as of the end of 2007, had 12,718 interments.

The Port Hudson Battlefield, including the cemetery, is a National Historic Landmark. It is also a designated site on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.

History

The cemetery is located on the site which was the main battleground of the Siege of Port Hudson, during the American Civil War. Nearly 4,000 Union troops fell during the fighting, and most were buried in the cemetery, many as unknowns. After the war another convert|8.4|acre|m2 was appropriated to inter those who died in the local veterans' facilities. The Confederate soldiers who died were primarily buried in the trenches where they fell. There is however, a Confederate Cemetery in the Port Hudson area that is currently inaccessible to the public.

The battlefield at Port Hudson is one of the only naturally preserved Civil War battlegrounds. The breastworks, gun pits, and trenches remain today almost as they were during the battle. The area has never been developed.

Port Hudson National Cemetery was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974 as part of the Port Hudson Historic Site.

Notable interments

Murphy Bell

See also

*United States Department of Veterans Affairs
*United States National Cemetery

References

External links

* [http://www.cem.va.gov/ National Cemetery Administration]
* [http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/porthudson.asp Port Hudson National Cemetery]