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Secondary sourceArtifact1865

Andersonville National Cemetery

1865

The cemetery for Union soldiers who died at Andersonville prison, where Clara Barton raised the flag at its 1865 dedication after helping identify the graves.

Barton raised the flag at this cemetery's 1865 dedication, the result of her work identifying Andersonville's graves.

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Black-and-white photo of Andersonville National Cemetery: rows of white headstones on a grassy lawn, a tall dark monument on the right, and large trees along the left and background.
Andersonville National Cemetery, established 1865. National Park Service.

About this source

What it is

Andersonville National Cemetery, established in 1865, holds the graves of Union soldiers who died at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia. It is maintained today by the National Park Service and features rows of white headstones, a monument, and mature trees including Southern magnolias.

Why it matters

Clara Barton took part in the 1865 expedition that identified and marked the graves here, using Dorence Atwater's list of the dead, and she raised the flag at the cemetery's dedication. The cemetery stands as physical evidence of that identification work and of the scale of death at Andersonville prison during the Civil War.

Look closer

  • What does the orderly arrangement of headstones tell us about the effort to identify the dead?
  • Why might a cemetery be designed with monuments and memorial trees?
  • What do later legends, like the magnolias linked to Barton, show about how historical memory can grow beyond documented fact?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Clara Barton on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Primary source

A List of the Union Soldiers Buried at Andersonville

Dorence Atwater; Clara Barton · 1866

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