Annapolis National Cemetery was one of the first 12 National Cemeteries established in 1862. While there wasn't a battle fought in the area, there was a Parole Camp for Union soldiers awaiting formal prisoner exchange, as well as a large complex of hospitals to support wounded from the eastern theater, and to receive wounded coming from the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It's only about 4 acres with about 3,000 burials (about 80% of which are Civil War-era burials, with the rest being local veteran burials up to the 1970's).
Because of the unusual nature of the cemetery it's nearly a cross-section of the entire war, with casualties from many of the major battles.
There are also more than two dozen burials of USCT soldiers:
There are three women buried side by side, hospital nurses who gave their lives, succumbing to the same diseases they were fighting against. Hannah Henderson, Rachel Spittle, and Mrs. J Broad.
Apocryphally I had heard that originally there had been several dozen Confederate head stones installed but in the early 1900's someone realized most of them were actually for Union soldiers from Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, and several other southern states, at which point correct head stones were installed. There are still about half a dozen Confederate burials in the cemetery. Aaron Bennett of the 23rd Tennessee, who died in June of 1864, presumably wounded and captured during the earliest parts of the Petersburg campagin.
There is at least one other burial of a non-US service member. In the winter of 1863 the Russian Navy arrived in US ports to avoid being frozen in their own ports during a potential conflict. Two ships arrived in Annapolis, and during their time in town one sailor died, Nikolai Demidoff (probably more accurately, Demidov). The local newspaper reported a fairly elaborate Orthodox funeral attended by the Russian sailors, as well as US soldiers and sailors and other people prominent locally. The burial was probably also attended by a young Russian midshipman from the ship, Rimsky Korsakov.
Soldiers from battles across the country wound up buried here:
Matthew McNess, 103rd Pennsylvania. Mortally Wounded at Fair Oaks
Joseph Breece, 14th New Jersey. Mortally wounded at Monocacy
James Cooper, 51st Ohio. Mortally wounded at Chickamauga
James Hight, 8th Iowa. Mortally wounded at Shiloh (despite what the date on the stone says)
William Carpenter, 23rd Pennsylvania. Mortally wounded at Cold Harbor
Edward Holden, 4th Massachusetts Cavalry. Mortally wounded Gainesville, FL
John Hennessey of the 1st Louisiana Cavalry (US). "Over his shoulder" as it were, is the grave of Horace Currier of the 7th Wisconsin. His letters and diary often are used as sources in histories of the Iron Brigade. He was captured at Gettysburg and sent to Libby Prison. He became extremely ill in captivity and didn't recover after his parole.
Patrick Carroll, 2nd Rhode Island. Mortally wounded at Sailor's Creek, died one week after the surrender at Appomattox.
There are just over 200 "Unknown" burials. This is a real tragedy as these weren't bodies removed from a battlefield, they died in hospitals. Once again apocryphally I had heard that between the burials during the war and when headstones were installed in the 1880's, that temporary markers had gotten disturbed and paperwork lost, so that the identities of the dead were lost.
Because of the unusual nature of the cemetery it's nearly a cross-section of the entire war, with casualties from many of the major battles.
There are also more than two dozen burials of USCT soldiers:
There are three women buried side by side, hospital nurses who gave their lives, succumbing to the same diseases they were fighting against. Hannah Henderson, Rachel Spittle, and Mrs. J Broad.
Apocryphally I had heard that originally there had been several dozen Confederate head stones installed but in the early 1900's someone realized most of them were actually for Union soldiers from Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, and several other southern states, at which point correct head stones were installed. There are still about half a dozen Confederate burials in the cemetery. Aaron Bennett of the 23rd Tennessee, who died in June of 1864, presumably wounded and captured during the earliest parts of the Petersburg campagin.
There is at least one other burial of a non-US service member. In the winter of 1863 the Russian Navy arrived in US ports to avoid being frozen in their own ports during a potential conflict. Two ships arrived in Annapolis, and during their time in town one sailor died, Nikolai Demidoff (probably more accurately, Demidov). The local newspaper reported a fairly elaborate Orthodox funeral attended by the Russian sailors, as well as US soldiers and sailors and other people prominent locally. The burial was probably also attended by a young Russian midshipman from the ship, Rimsky Korsakov.
Soldiers from battles across the country wound up buried here:
Matthew McNess, 103rd Pennsylvania. Mortally Wounded at Fair Oaks
Joseph Breece, 14th New Jersey. Mortally wounded at Monocacy
James Cooper, 51st Ohio. Mortally wounded at Chickamauga
James Hight, 8th Iowa. Mortally wounded at Shiloh (despite what the date on the stone says)
William Carpenter, 23rd Pennsylvania. Mortally wounded at Cold Harbor
Edward Holden, 4th Massachusetts Cavalry. Mortally wounded Gainesville, FL
John Hennessey of the 1st Louisiana Cavalry (US). "Over his shoulder" as it were, is the grave of Horace Currier of the 7th Wisconsin. His letters and diary often are used as sources in histories of the Iron Brigade. He was captured at Gettysburg and sent to Libby Prison. He became extremely ill in captivity and didn't recover after his parole.
Patrick Carroll, 2nd Rhode Island. Mortally wounded at Sailor's Creek, died one week after the surrender at Appomattox.
There are just over 200 "Unknown" burials. This is a real tragedy as these weren't bodies removed from a battlefield, they died in hospitals. Once again apocryphally I had heard that between the burials during the war and when headstones were installed in the 1880's, that temporary markers had gotten disturbed and paperwork lost, so that the identities of the dead were lost.
Bringing the