Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
by Peggy Franz
Title
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
Artist
Peggy Franz
Medium
Photograph - Photography/landscape/barnes
Description
Captured at Jefferson Barracks, one of the National Cemetery Administrations oldest interment sites, has served as a burial place soldiers from all wars. The original military post was built south of St. Louis, Mo., on the banks of the Mississippi River to replace Fort Bellefontaine. Selected for its strategic geographic location, the post was opened in 1826. Jefferson Barracks became the armys first permanent base west of the Mississippi River. By the 1840s, it was the largest military establishment in the United States. During the Civil War, Jefferson Barracks served as a training post for the Union Army. There was also a hospital at the post for the Union armys sick and wounded. Although Jefferson Barracks was formally established as a national cemetery in 1866 by passage of a join resolution, the first burial, at what is now Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery is believed to have occurred the year after the posts founding, on Aug. 5, 1827. On that date, Elizabeth Ann Lash, the infant daughter of an officer stationed at Jefferson Barracks was interred at the post cemetery. The Civil War initiated the beginnings of a formal network of military cemeteries. The first general U.S. cemetery legislation was an omnibus bill enacted July 17, 1862, authorizing President Lincoln "to purchase cemetery grounds, and cause them to be securely enclosed, to be used as a national cemetery for the soldiers who shall have died in the service of the country." By the end of the year, the first 14 national cemeteries were created. Jefferson Barracks was formally established as a national cemetery in 1866 by passage of a joint resolution authorizing the Secretary of War to take action to preserve graves from desecration and "secure suitable burial-places in which they may be properly interred."
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May 17th, 2013
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