Battleground National Cemetery — Attraction in Washington

A quiet place in one of the busiest cities in the world.

Battleground National Cemetery was established shortly after the Battle of Fort Stevens, in the summer of 1864. The battle, which lasted two days (July 11-12, 1864) marked the defeat of General Jubal A. Early's Confederate campaign to launch an offensive action against the nation's capital.

The Battle of Fort Stevens also gained notoriety as being the only military action in which the commander-in-chief, President Abraham Lincoln, came under direct fire from the enemy. With a combined total casualty figure of over 900 killed or wounded during the engagement, 40 of the Union soldiers who fought and died bravely in defense of the capital. Four civilians related to the cemetery's first caretaker were buried after the Civil War. A veteran of the battle was interred in 1936, closing the cemetery to future burials.

Battleground National Cemetery, located one-half mile north of Fort Stevens, is one acre in size, and one of our nation's smallest national cemeteries. The entrance to the Cemetery is flanked by two Civil War vintage 6-pounder, smoothbore guns. Also near the entrance are monuments commemorating those units which fought at Fort Stevens:

25th New York Volunteer Cavalry Monument 98th Pennsylvania Volunteer Monument 122nd New York Volunteer Monument 150th Ohio National...

Along the Takoma-Brightwood border in Northwest DC is one of the country's smallest national cemeteries on one acre of land. It was created and dedicated by Abraham Lincoln himself after the Battle at Fort Stevens. It was there that the Union stopped the attack on Washington, DC and the only time Lincoln came under direct fire from the Confederacy. 41 Union soldiers gave their lives that day and this cemetery honors them.

The cemetery is easy to miss, but once you're through the gate, you won't soon forget it. Take time to read the signs about its history and walk through the grass remembering the soldiers who defended Washington, DC at Fort Stevens nearby.

The cemetery is run by the National Park Service so...

This is the final resting place for Union Soldiers who fell defending not just Washington, DC, but President Lincoln from confederate sniper fire when he stupidly stood atop of Fort Stevens to survey the battlefield, only to get his physician shot by a round that missed its target. Please treat these grounds as hollow and respect those who gave the last true measure of devotion to so we might preserve this union. I've visited over the years, (and i dont blame the NPS workers, just congress) but this recent visit made me sad to see the egregiously underfunded National Park Service struggle to maintain final resting places of our nation's heros. Without the stand they made at Fort Stevens, Washington would...