Salem Church Cemetery

The Salem Church Cemetery is still in use today. Please be respectful in this special space.

NPS Photo

When the Civil War began, the Salem Church cemetery consisted of a single grave. Many of the graves located in the cemetery today belong to local residents who witnessed the events that unfolded in Spotsylvania County during the Civil War. While some decided to take up arms, others remained at home. Their stories remind us that both soldiers and civilians determined the war’s outcome.

A Place of Refuge

By 1862, war caused Salem Church’s leaders to close its doors. In mid-November of that year, the US Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia moved into Fredericksburg, six miles east of here. Their arrival prompted the town’s residents to consider fleeing in fear that a battle would soon occur. Think about the uncertainty that civilians faced during this time as they tried to decide whether to leave or remain at home. Where would they go? What would they bring with them? How long would they be gone?

As Fredericksburg became a battleground, thousands of civilians flooded the roads leading out of town. Many of them moved west into Spotsylvania County along the Orange Turnpike, or modern-day Route 3. Hundreds of these civilians gathered here at Salem Church and formed a refugee camp on the grounds. 

Fredericksburg resident Frances Bernard described what she saw as she passed by the church on December 12: “All was bustle and confusion…Some were cooking outside…and those who were infirm or sick were trying to get some rest in the cold, bare church.”

Even though the battle ended on December 15, many of Fredericksburg’s residents did not return to their homes until the war’s end. In the aftermath of the battle, the Confederacy raised over $170,000 for the people of Fredericksburg. Yet, no amount of cash could offset the economic hardships and supply shortages plaguing the Confederacy as a whole.

In the battle’s aftermath, the Confederate Army camped in Fredericksburg and awaited the arrival of spring weather. During their stay, many Confederate soldiers pillaged the area for resources, often at the detriment of local civilians. Douglas Gordon, a resident of Fredericksburg and Confederate supporter, complained, “Indeed our troops are plundering and defiling every house in town and yet we must be silent for fear of giving encouragement to the enemy.”

In many ways, the Battle of Fredericksburg brought national attention to the war’s impact on noncombatants. While the Confederacy tried to address the damage done to civilians’ homes during the course of the battle, many of the problems that civilians suffered in its aftermath went unresolved. The civilians who took refuge here at Salem Church faced additional uncertainty when a second battle broke out the following May.