Federal and Confederate Soldiers Buried in City Cemetery

In the 19

th

century, a “Good Death” was one which took place at home with loving family

members present. For Civil War soldiers there were no “Good Deaths.” The Civil War resulted

in 650,000 deaths. Two per cent of the population died. Compared to our population today, that

would equal 6 million deaths. The deaths of Confederate soldiers were three times greater than

Federal soldiers with one in every five Southern men of military age being casualties of war.

Nashville City Cemetery opened for burials in 1822. Four acres had been purchased by the

City Cemetery before the Civil War were Revolutionary War veterans, one Governor of

Tennessee (Gov. Carroll), 14 Mayors of Nashville, many lawyers, judges, doctors and

paid for their burials.. Nashville had quite a large population of free men of color who bought

Being the only “public” cemetery, the graveyard was going to be forced to serve as the resting

place for Civil War soldiers. Confederate soldiers were being buried at City Cemetery prior to

the occupation by Federal troops of Nashville in February 1862. After the occupation, W. R.

In a sketch, written by Cornelius for his granddaughter, he wrote that he had buried 2,260

Confederate soldiers in Nashville prior to the Federal occupation in February 1862. Cornelius’

In the Nashville Union, dated November 2, 1865, W.R. Cornelius listed the burials of

Confederate soldiers with their company, state regiment and date of death and also a few Federal

until August 20, 1865.

In the sketch for his granddaughter, W.R. Cornelius recorded that he had kept a complete record

of the soldiers he had located on the battlefield and those who had died in hospitals.

“… We kept a complete record… we having marked the names on coffins, on head board

and on clothing so that they might be easily identified. An account also was kept in book form at

the office, of Company, Regiment, State, Date of Death and Cause… (After the war)

Representatives of the Government were sent to Nashville to obtain reports of the dead for that

department and my records were borrowed by them. They promising to return them to me.

Without my knowledge or consent they were removed to Louisville, Ky., letters being sent me

from there saying they would be returned. They were later taken to Washington, where all trace

dead.” When this area had no more space, Cornelius was ordered to bury the dead in a triangular

space between the Nashville & Chattanooga and the Tennessee & Alabama railroads, containing

about 3 acres. Two years later, on April 11, 1864, Cornelius requested more burial grounds.

Captain Isom and Medical Director Surgeon Clendenin selected the grounds on the west side of

cemeteries were called U.S. Burial Ground – Due West of City Cemetery and U.S. Burial

Ground – South West of City Cemetery.

In Military Service records for Death and Burial of Federal soldiers who died in hospital in

two U. S Burials grounds.

are painted, so that a mark of this kind can be recognized in several years from now, for the

Nashville National Cemetery

War. Although a Southern by birth, he was a Union man. By June 1864, the cemeteries in and

garden. General Meigs wanted to make certain that the house would never be the Lee home

again. Arlington Cemetery was the first national cemetery for Civil War Federal soldiers.

In Nashville, General Thomas wanted to establish a cemetery for the Federal dead in the area of

the fighting of the Battle of Nashville. General Thomas was the Federal commander during the

Battle of Nashville, December 15 & 16, 1864. A site was considered on Charlotte Pike but the

price per acre was too expensive and the land was not located near a railroad. A second site, 65

acres, was chosen on Gallatin Pike which had the Louisville and Nashville Railroad directly

running through the property. Transportation would then be available for the relocation of the

remains by railroad or turnpike. The property was purchased, from George Maney and

U.S. Burial grounds located near the City Cemetery, Pest House in Nashville and from

Green, Kentucky. The dis-interments began in October 1867 and concluded in January 1868.

Roll of Honor, published in 1869, by the U.S. Quartermaster’s Department, under the direction

number of 3,021 removals from the Nashville City Cemetery and 8,592 removals from the two

U.S. Burial Grounds, located near the City Cemetery. In total, there were 11,613 removals from

the three graveyards in the area of Fort Negley to the Nashville National Cemetery. These figures

The concern of ladies in Nashville about the deteriorating condition of the graves of Confederate

soldiers at City Cemetery led to an effort to remove and rebury them. In March 1869, the Ladies

for the final resting place of CSA soldiers who had been buried in the vicinity Nashville. There

was ample space for 2,000 graves. In May 1870, the Ladies held a dedication of the ground

where 1,360 soldiers had been re-buried. In the years to come, a tall obelisk, topped with a

statue of a Confederate soldier, was placed in the middle of the Confederate Circle. At the time

of the re-burials, markers were not placed on the graves. No interment records have been located

at Mt. Olivet Cemetery or in other collections which list the names of those re-interred in the

Confederate Circle in 1869.

The Sexton recorded in the Interment Books the Civil War burials which took place in private

family lots at the City Cemetery. Included in this list would be CSA General Zollicoffer and Lt.

Henry Middleton Rutledge Fogg who were both killed at the Battle of Mills Creek (Dripping

Springs) in January 1862 in Kentucky. Their bodies were allowed by the Federal Army to be

returned to Nashville for burial at City Cemetery. CSA Joseph Pollard, from Montgomery,

Alabama, died from wounds at the Battle of Stones River. His tombstone was identified on a

1908 Plat map in the Woods family lot. Fred Zahn, Metro Historical Commission, was able to

probe the lot and find the broken pieces of his tombstone which have been repaired and re-set.

After the conclusion of the war, some families made efforts to dis-inter and re-bury their soldier

To view the names and tombstones for Federal navy men and CSA soldiers buried in family lots,

INTERMENTS. Scroll to Veterans Buried in City Cemetery. Click-on Civil War. Federal or

Fletch Coke

Fort Negley presentation

December 12, 2015

Federal and Confederate Soldiers Buried at City Cemetery

Presentation at Fort Negley. By Fletch Coke

December 12, 2015

To view presentation ~ www.thenashvillecitycemetery.org

Additional Suggested Readings:

Nashville City Cemetery (Second Edition 2010)

Order on-line on www.thenashvillecitycemetery.org

Neff, John R., Honoring the Civil War Dead (2005)

Nashville City Cemetery website:

Civil War Interments www.thenashvillecitycemetery.org

Federal Civil War Burial Sheets

Record of re-interments of Federal soldiers from original

burial sites in Tennessee and southern Kentucky to the

Nashville National Cemetery October 1867 to January 1868.