Florence National Cemetery
Introduction
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The land that was used to create Florence National Cemetery was appropriated, and later purchased, from the estate of a local resident who lived in the vicinity of a prisoner of war camp operated by the Confederate military. Original interments were made in two separate burial grounds, one containing 416 Union veterans. The second contained the remains of approximately 2,322 soldiers who perished in the Confederate prisoner of war camp. Interments at the larger site were made in 16 trenches. In 1865, this site was designated as a national cemetery and the remains from the smaller burial ground were reinterred withing the boundaries of the present location. Remains were also disinterred and moved to the cemetery from the surrounding region. The original wooden headboards marking the trench graves were replaced by 2,167 marble "unknown" head blocks measuring 6 x 6 inches square and set approximately six inches apart. In 1955, all but five of these markers were replaced with 32 upright marble headstones at each end of the trenches.
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Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Sources
Sammartino, Therese. "Florence National Cemetery." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places. January 05, 1998. http://focus.nps.gov/GetAsset?assetID=05f2f85c-9758-4b8a-8519-34bc74e11932.