Memphis National Cemetery

3568 TOWNES AVENUE
MEMPHIS, TN 38122, USA

Website: http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/memphis.asp »

Strong Union land and river forces captured Memphis on June 6, 1862, and with the surrender, the city became the location of several Federal hospitals serving the Western theater of war. The dead from these hospitals were buried in private cemeteries and in 1866 were reinterred in the Mississippi National Cemetery. In 1867 the name was changed to the Memphis National Cemetery. Of the 13,965 soldiers buried at this site, 8,866 are unknown. Other burials include those from the USS Sultana, which sank in April 1865 and ranks as one of the nation's deadliest maritime disasters, with 1,700 soldiers and crew lost.