Monuments at Poplar Grove

Cannon tube Monument

NPS

Quick Facts

Location:

5008 Vaughan Road, Petersburg, VA

Significance:

National Cemetery

Amenities

1 listed

Wheelchair Accessible

“The Union forever, hurrah! boys, hurrah!
Down with the traitors, up with the stars;
While we rally round the flag, boys, we rally once again,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!” Chorus to Battle Cry of Freedom

The flagpole is the center of the cemetery. It is placed in the middle of the parade ground of the 50^th NY Engineers camp. All the grave markers face the flagpole. The flagpole has changed multiple times during the cemetery’s history. Starting off as a wooden pole, it needed to be replaced frequently. In 1913, an iron flagpole took its place. In 1930, a newly installed pole stretched 80 feet up in the air! Most recently in 1974 the height was reduced eliminating the need for guywires.

Four thirty-two pound columbiad cannon tubes turned upright standing as sentinels at the cardinal directions around the flagpole. Infront of each a pyramid of cannonballs. The cannon on the north has a bronze shield showing date of cemetery establishment date and burial record tally.

Throughout the cemetery there are ten iron tablets with stanzas of the poem "Bivouac of the Dead" by Theodore O'Hara. Written to honor those killed in the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican American War. Similar tablets are found in other National Cemeteries.

“The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo;
No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On Fame's eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards, with solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead.” Bivouac of the Dead by Theodore O’Hara

Thank you for visiting Poplar Grove National Cemetery. The National Park Service continues to serve those who served the United States. We invite you to explore and reflect on those servicemen whose final resting ground lays before you.