Bath National Cemetery dates to 1877 when it was established as the final resting place for veterans who died while living at the Grand Army of the Republic Soldiers' and Sailors' Home in Bath, New York.  The facility was transferred to the state in April 1878 and renamed New York State Soldiers and Sailors Home. In the late 1920s, the state transferred this facility to the U.S. government, and the home became the Bath Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. Erected in 1892, a grand granite obelisk stands watch over the graves and honors those who fought for the Union during the Civil War.

Following the Civil War, thousands of volunteer soldiers were left with injuries and disabilities. Some required long-term care that was often more than families could provide.  In 1872, the state of New York passed legislation to construct a home for these soldiers. The legislation provided funding, and the Grand Army of the Republic, a Union veterans association, raised $100,000 for the home’s construction and operation.  Work began in June 1877, and the New York State Soldiers' and Sailors' Home opened on Christmas Day 1878.

In 1879, a cemetery was established for those who died while living at the home.  The cemetery is located northwest of the home’s parade ground.  A cemetery office and maintenance building was constructed in 1887 at the cemetery’s entrance on San Juan Avenue. The small, one-story building features simplified Victorian details, including arched windows and a hipped roof with finials and exposed rafter ends. A contemporary addition mimics the original building’s asymmetry.

On July 18, 1894, a dedication ceremony was held to unveil a grand monument on the cemetery’s grounds. Several years earlier, Brooklyn businessman Samuel Dietz bequeathed $15,000 to the home, and the home’s leaders decided to use the gift to build a memorial at the cemetery.  Several thousand people attended the ceremony, which included a parade, speeches, and a gun salute.  The obelisk is constructed of light Barre granite and rises 40 feet from its foundation. A bronze plaque at the monument’s base bears the inscription: “In memory of the soldiers and sailors of the war for the preservation of the Union who died in the New York State Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home.”

Flagpole with surrounding gravestones Photo by Jet Lowe, Historic American Engineering Record Photographer

In 1929, the state transferred the home to the U.S. government to operate as the Bath Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.  The cemetery operated as the Bath Veterans Administration Medical Center cemetery until 1973, when it was officially declared a national cemetery.

Notable burials in the Bath National Cemetery include U.S. Army Private Robert Knox Sneden.  Sneden was an artist whose paintings and drawings of Civil War battles are on display at the Virginia Historical Society.  Bath National Cemetery is also the final resting place for Medal of Honor recipients, the nation’s highest military decoration, given for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”

The cemetery also contains the remains of several War of 1812 veterans. In 1987, an archeologist working on a site at Fort Erie in Canada discovered 28 skeletons, interred in a uniform manner lying east to west with hands crossed.  Subsequent investigation identified the remains as U.S. soldiers who fought in the War of 1812’s Niagara Campaign, during which U.S. forces attempted to gain control of Canada.  The soldiers were thought to have been men of the U.S. 2nd Artillery Regiment who died at the 1814 Battle of Snake Hill. After a ceremony in Canada, the casketed remains of the 28 soldiers were transported by hearse to the Bath National Cemetery for reinterment with full military honors. A monument stands near the graves of the War of 1812 veterans.

Today, the Bath Branch Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers is the Bath Veterans Administration Medical Center, which continues to provide care and comfort to veterans.  Modern facilities share the campus with a collection of 30 historic late-1800s buildings of Georgian, Colonial, and Victorian styles.