Last updated: September 6, 2025
Place
Hallowed Ground Poplar Grove National Cemetery
NPS
Quick Facts
Location:
5008 Vaughan Road, Petersburg, VA
Significance:
National Cemetery
Amenities
2 listed
Parking - Auto, Wheelchair Accessible
On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln spoke the following words at Gettysburg National Cemetery:
"But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate – we can not consecrate – we can not hallow – this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Before the Civil War, military dead were generally buried in small plots on post or, in most cases, in civilian cemeteries. The US Army did not have the procedures or systems in place to provide a proper burial for the large number of soldiers who would die while serving in the Civil War.In 1861, the Quartermaster Corps was assigned the responsibility for overseeing the registration of burials and providing headboards.
In 1862, two acts were passed that allowed for the creation of cemeteries near hospitals or battlefields. By the end of 1862, 14 national cemeteries had been established. On April 13, 1866, another act was passed to establish 50 new national cemeteries. As well as developing a system to search for and recover soldiers who had died during service. That would bring the total of national cemeteries to 73 by 1869. Today, the Veterans Cemetery Administration manages over 100 national cemeteries, while the National Park Service manages 14, including Poplar Grove National Cemetery.
The land where Poplar Grove National Cemetery lies has a long history. It is on a fall line dividing a plateau upland from tidewater lowlands. Before European settlement, it was a temperate ecosystem with an abundant variety of trees, including long-leaf Pines, American Beach, oak trees, American Holly, and Tulip Poplar. It was also hunting grounds for the eastern Siouan and Southern Iroquois. In 1644, the Powhatan confederation ceded the land east of the fall line to England. By 1835, the land was part of a larger plantation known as the Clifford tract. In 1838, 450 acres were sold to the Coupland family. After that sale, the land changed hands several times. In 1856, it was purchased by Reverend Thomas Britton Flower from Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
As the US forces pushed lines westward around Petersburg in 1864, the Flowers allowed a part of their land to be used by the 50th New York volunteer engineers. They built their camp here, which included a large church, barracks for officers and enlisted men, a hospital, and a center parade ground, all connected by plank walkways.
When the war ended in 1865 the land had escaped the scars of battle. It would soon know and bear the lasting impact of war as the hallowed ground of more than 6,000 Civil War burials.
"But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate – we can not consecrate – we can not hallow – this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Before the Civil War, military dead were generally buried in small plots on post or, in most cases, in civilian cemeteries. The US Army did not have the procedures or systems in place to provide a proper burial for the large number of soldiers who would die while serving in the Civil War.In 1861, the Quartermaster Corps was assigned the responsibility for overseeing the registration of burials and providing headboards.
In 1862, two acts were passed that allowed for the creation of cemeteries near hospitals or battlefields. By the end of 1862, 14 national cemeteries had been established. On April 13, 1866, another act was passed to establish 50 new national cemeteries. As well as developing a system to search for and recover soldiers who had died during service. That would bring the total of national cemeteries to 73 by 1869. Today, the Veterans Cemetery Administration manages over 100 national cemeteries, while the National Park Service manages 14, including Poplar Grove National Cemetery.
The land where Poplar Grove National Cemetery lies has a long history. It is on a fall line dividing a plateau upland from tidewater lowlands. Before European settlement, it was a temperate ecosystem with an abundant variety of trees, including long-leaf Pines, American Beach, oak trees, American Holly, and Tulip Poplar. It was also hunting grounds for the eastern Siouan and Southern Iroquois. In 1644, the Powhatan confederation ceded the land east of the fall line to England. By 1835, the land was part of a larger plantation known as the Clifford tract. In 1838, 450 acres were sold to the Coupland family. After that sale, the land changed hands several times. In 1856, it was purchased by Reverend Thomas Britton Flower from Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
As the US forces pushed lines westward around Petersburg in 1864, the Flowers allowed a part of their land to be used by the 50th New York volunteer engineers. They built their camp here, which included a large church, barracks for officers and enlisted men, a hospital, and a center parade ground, all connected by plank walkways.
When the war ended in 1865 the land had escaped the scars of battle. It would soon know and bear the lasting impact of war as the hallowed ground of more than 6,000 Civil War burials.