Salisbury National Cemetery

Historic cemetery in Rowan County, North Carolina

Salisbury National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of Salisbury, in Rowan County, North Carolina. It was established at the site of burials of Union soldiers who died during the American Civil War while held at a Confederate prisoner of war camp at the site. Now administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses , in the original location and at an annex. A twenty year old abandoned cotton mill near the railroad line was selected as the location. In the early part of the war, prisoners were well cared for and allowed to play baseball. This was recorded in a drawing by Maj. Otto Boetticher, which is believed to be one of the first art works showing the game being played. By October 1864 the prison held 5,000 men, soon increasing to 10,000. The town of Salisbury had 2,000 residents, and at that was the fourth largest town in the state. Residents felt threatened by the high number of prisoners being held, and associated diseases. As the prison became overcrowded, the death rate increased from 2 to 28 percent because of malnutrition, poor sanitation, and disease. The Confederates used mass graves to bury the many dead. Because of the poor conditions and high mortality, in February 1865 the Confederates moved thousands of prisoners to other locations, including 3,729 who were marched to Greensboro and taken from there by train to Wilmington, North Carolina, and 1,420 others who were transferred to facilities in Richmond, Virginia. By the time Union Gen. George Stoneman reached Salisbury in the spring of 1865, the prison had been emptied and was being used as a supply depot. Stoneman ordered the prison structures burned and a wood fence built around the mass graves. Of the buildings that constituted the prison, one house on Bank Street still stands; Excavation of that site took place in November 2018. In a March 28, 2019 presentation, Timothy Roberts, an investigator with Cultural Resources Analysts, reported the findings. Brick, mortar and stone showed the portico of the barracks was likely located on the lot. Building materials had been salvaged and probably used in other buildings after the war, according to Steve Cobb of Historic Salisbury Foundation. The artifacts found did not necessarily come from the prison. It was possible that other excavations could reveal the boundaries of the building.

Initially the Confederates buried prisoners of war who died while held at Salisbury Prison, near the complex. A report by Confederate General T. W. Hall stated that 10,321 prisoners arrived between October 5, 1864 and February 17, 1865. 2,918 reportedly died at the hospital, and a total of 3,479 were buried. The fence which Stoneman had built around the mass graves was later replaced with a stone wall. After the American Civil War, the cemetery was officially designated as a National Cemetery for Union burials. Remains of Union troops from other cemeteries around the area were transferred to it. Additions had been made in 1976, 1985 and 1995, which gave the cemetery a total of 12.5 acres, and 5800 were buried at the cemetery already. Administrators predicted that by the end of 1999, the cemetery would have no more room. Representatives of the cemetery, veterans, and Rowan County traveled to Washington, D. C. asking for help. On Memorial Day 1999, the Veterans Administration announced the donation of about for cemetery purposes, at the W. G. (Bill) Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury. The land included the Brookdale Golf Course, donated by Samuel C. Hart American Legion Post to be used by the hospital when it opened in 1953. It was operated as a golf course until the late 1980s. On November 14, 2011, work began on a new columbarium with a capacity of 1000, which was expected to last ten years. The existing columbarium was nearly filled. Also, the cemetery was adding 2400 "pre placed in ground crypts"; these allowed 1500 burials per acre compared to 700 with normal graves. As of Memorial Day 2012, the original cemetery, with about 7000 markers, was closed to new burials, except for spouses of those already buried. The annex had 4000 markers and was the state's only open national cemetery. In January 2020, a donation by the Rowan County YMCA of more than 30 acres to the annex provided for the annex to continue burials until 2065.

In 1869, Brevet Gen. L. Thomas estimated the number buried at 11,700, after two of the trenches were opened. That number is used on the monument to unknown soldiers. But research by Louis A. Brown shows the number to be close to 3800. Mark Hughes of Kings Mountain, North Carolina has campaigned to get the number corrected on the monument, and also to add grave markers for the 3500 men whose identities can be determined from sources such as an 1868 Roll of Honor. He cites federal law requiring a marker for anyone buried in a national cemetery. As of 2014, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs does not plan to change the monument or add individual markers. It is not possible to determine precisely who was buried. In 2009, an interpretive panel was added to show what research has determined about the number of mass burials. In 2014, the 1868 Roll of Honor was being added to a web site. A 25 feet (8 m) granite monument topped by a statue of a soldier, erected in 1908 by the state of Maine. The Pennsylvania Monument, a 40 feet (12 m) monument on a granite base, erected in 1909.