The marble headstones covering the graceful landscape of Marietta National Cemetery keep us mindful of the fallen heroes who fought and died for what they believed.
Marietta National Cemetery
Marietta, Georgia
Photos and article by Rick Jordahl
Among the nation’s most elaborate cemetery layouts at the time, the Marietta National Cemetery was designed by Union Army Chaplain Thomas B. Van Horne. The original plot of a few acres, donated by Henry Greene Cole, a prominent Marietta citizen, was later expanded and the Marietta National Cemetery currently comprises approximately 23 acres.
The National Cemetery Act, passed by Congress in 1862, required a final resting place be provided for those who gave their lives in defense of the Union. This meant that many Union soldiers killed in action would be disinterred from the battlefield where they fell and re-buried within the confines of a national cemetery.
In 1866, the Marietta National Cemetery was established as a final resting place for the staggering losses from Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign. Many Union casualties were disinterred from surrounding battlefields, including Kennesaw Mountain, and re-buried here.
Our national cemeteries provide us with quiet places for peaceful reflection on the violence and struggle that once raged throughout the nation. By 1870 interment of Civil War dead in 73 national cemeteries was completed and today men from both North and South rest side by side in many of them.
Marietta, Georgia
Photos and article by Rick Jordahl
Among the nation’s most elaborate cemetery layouts at the time, the Marietta National Cemetery was designed by Union Army Chaplain Thomas B. Van Horne. The original plot of a few acres, donated by Henry Greene Cole, a prominent Marietta citizen, was later expanded and the Marietta National Cemetery currently comprises approximately 23 acres.
The National Cemetery Act, passed by Congress in 1862, required a final resting place be provided for those who gave their lives in defense of the Union. This meant that many Union soldiers killed in action would be disinterred from the battlefield where they fell and re-buried within the confines of a national cemetery.
In 1866, the Marietta National Cemetery was established as a final resting place for the staggering losses from Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign. Many Union casualties were disinterred from surrounding battlefields, including Kennesaw Mountain, and re-buried here.
Our national cemeteries provide us with quiet places for peaceful reflection on the violence and struggle that once raged throughout the nation. By 1870 interment of Civil War dead in 73 national cemeteries was completed and today men from both North and South rest side by side in many of them.
The entry arch for the cemetery was constructed in 1883. “Marietta National Military Cemetery. Here rest the remains of 10,132 officers and soldiers who died in defence of the Union, 1861 to 1865”.
Visitors to the cemetery will see the Wisconsin Monument dedicated in 1925 -- a memorial to the 405 soldiers from that state buried here. The Wisconsin badger sits atop this stately memorial.