- Beaufort National Cemetery
Beaufort National Cemetery is a
United States National Cemetery located in Beaufort County, in the city ofBeaufort, South Carolina . It encompasses 33.1 acres, and as of the end of 2005, had 18,511 interments.History
The original interments in the cemetery were men who died in nearby Union hospitals during the occupation of the area early in the Civil War, mainly in 1861, following the
Battle of Port Royal . Battlefield casualties from around the area were also reinterred in the cemetery, including over 100 Confederate soldiers. It became a National Cemetery with the National Cemetery Act byAbraham Lincoln in 1863. The remains of 27 Union prisoners of war were reinterred fromBlackshear Prison following the war.Beaufort National Cemetery now has interments from every major American conflict, including the
Spanish-American War , theKorean War , theVietnam War , and theGulf War .On
May 29 ,1989 , nineteen Union soldiers of the all blackMassachusetts 55th Infantry, whose remains were found onFolly Island, South Carolina in 1987, were buried in the cemetery with full military honors. Members of the cast of the film "Glory" served as honor guard.Beaufort National Cemetery was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1997.Notable interments
*Private First Class Ralph Henry Johnson,
Medal of Honor recipient for action in theVietnam War .
*Colonel Donald Conroy, known as "The Great Santini".
*Master Sergeant Joseph Simmons,Légion d'honneur recipient,Buffalo Soldier ,World War I andWorld War II veteran.See also
*
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
*United States National CemeteryExternal links
* [http://www.cem.va.gov/ National Cemetery Administration]
* [http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/beaufort.asp Beaufort National Cemetery]
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