Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery is an American military cemetery located in St. Louis County, Missouri, just on the banks of the Mississippi River. The cemetery was established after the American Civil War in an attempt to put together a formal network of military cemeteries. It started as the Jefferson Barracks Military Post Cemetery in 1826 and became a United States National Cemetery in 1866.

The first known burial was Elizabeth Ann Lash, the infant child of an officer stationed at Jefferson Barracks.

The cemetery is administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs on the former site of Jefferson Barracks. It covers and the number of interments as of 2021 is approximately 237,000. The cemetery is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Notable interments

Medal of Honor recipients

Major Ralph Cheli (1919–1944), for heroism while leading a bombing mission in World War II
George Hobday (1839–1891), for action at the Wounded Knee Massacre, 1890
Lorenzo D. Immell (1837–1912), for action at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, 1890
Donald D. Pucket (1915–1944), pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces, for action in World War II
David Ryan (1836–1896), for action during the Indian Wars in 1877
Martin Schubert (1838–1912), for action during the American Civil War in 1862
Alonzo Stokes (1837–1876), for action at the Battle of the Little Wichita River, 1870
Bruce Avery Van Voorhis (1908–1943), US Navy pilot, for action in the Pacific

Other notable individuals

Michael Blassie (1948–1972), previously interred as the "Vietnam unknown soldier" at the Tomb of the Unknowns from 1984 to 1998, re-interred here in 1998 after DNA testing positively identified his remains
Jack Buck (1924–2002), former St. Louis Cardinals baseball announcer
Dennis Edwards (1943–2018), former lead singer with The Temptations
Franklin Gritts (1915–1996), Cherokee artist and art director of the Sporting News
Johnnie Johnson (1924–2005), pioneering rock musician
Walter Mayberry (1915–1944), college football player who died in a Japanese POW camp
Robert McFerrin Sr. (1921–2006), opera singer
Hughie Miller (1886–1945), baseball player who earned the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart in World War I
Henry Townsend (1909–2006), musician
Three veterans of the American Revolution buried in the Old Post Section:
Private Richard Gentry (1763–1843), veteran of the Revolutionary and the Indian Wars. He was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. His son Colonel Richard Gentry (1788–1837), a veteran of the War of 1812 and the Indian Wars, is also buried nearby.
Major Russell Bissell (1756–1807), veteran of the Revolutionary and the Indian Wars.
Colonel Thomas Hunt (1754–1808), a "Minuteman" at the Battle of Concord, April 1775. During the revolution he was wounded at the Battle of Stony Point and Siege of Yorktown. He was also a veteran of the Indian Wars and commanded the 1st Infantry Regiment.
Other burials of note
Mass grave of sixty-one merchant marines and sailors who died in the fire aboard the on August 19, 1943.
Mass grave for 123 of the 139 victims of the Palawan Massacre
Remains of 5 crewmen from B-36 Bomber 075 lost on the coast of British Columbia, Canada while conducting a training mission on February 13, 1950thumb|Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

Memorial to the Confederate Dead

thumb|Panoramic view showing row upon row of simple white stone headstones converging in the distance.A monument entitled Memorial to the Confederate Dead was placed in Jefferson Barracks on May 1, 1988 It is located in section 66 of the cemetery. Not to be confused with the removed Memorial to the Confederate Dead (St. Louis).

thumb|Memorial to the Confederate Dead

It was placed by the Jefferson Barracks Civil War Historical Association, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the Missouri Society Military Order of the Stars and Bars.

The front of the monument features three Confederate flags: the first national flag (seven-star variant of the "Stars and Bars"), the Confederate Battle Flag, and the last national flag ("Blood-Stained Banner").

Under the flags is a quote by Berry Benson:

thumb|Aerial View of Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery and Jefferson Barracks Bridge

thumb|Headstones at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis, MO

56th United States Colored Infantry Monument

A monument dedicated to the 56th United States Colored Infantry Regiment was erected on May 19th, 1939 following the re-interment of 175 officers and soldiers at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in a mass grave. The original stone obelisk monument that was erected at Koch Quarantine Hospital bore a brief inscription:

The War Department claimed that the names of the unknown soldiers would be placed on the monument when their names were discovered.

References

External links