The national cemetery system was started in 1862. Established by Congress in response to the mortality rate suffered by Union forces during the Civil War, national cemeteries initially served as the final resting place for "soldiers who shall die in the service of the country." In 1873, the right of burial in a national cemetery was extended to all honorably discharged Union veterans of the Civil War. Over the years, Congress has passed legislation that gradually extended burial privileges to a larger portion of the population, including Confederate veterans who, after the Civil War, served in the Army or Navy of the United States. 

Vicksburg National Cemetery was established in 1866 to serve as a central burial location for Union soldiers who were killed in action or died of disease during service in this region. Union soldiers whose remains could be located in battlefield graves or at hospital sites were disinterred, brought to Vicksburg, and placed in the national cemetery. There are approximately 17,000 Union soldiers interred in the national cemetery at Vicksburg of which number 13,000 are listed simply as "Unknown."

The Confederate soldiers who were killed or died of disease during the Siege of Vicksburg were by necessity buried behind Southern lines. Mr. J. Q. Arnold, a local undertaker under contract with the Confederate government to bury soldiers, selected Cedar Hill (city) Cemetery as the final resting place for those who died in the defense of Vicksburg. As these men did not meet the criteria established by Congress for burial in a national cemetery, their remains were not moved and still rest today in Cedar Hill Cemetery where their graves are lovingly maintained by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.