Woodlawn National Cemetery

In 1861, the town of Elmira, NY was a training and marshalling center for Union troops. After the troops had been sent out on duty, and the barracks were empty, the buildings were used as a prisoner-of-war camp. Approximately 12,000 Confederate enlisted men were housed here, in what was originally known as Camp Rathbun, and approximately 3,000 men died here. Fortunately, the sexton of the cemetery, an escaped slave, kept a meticulous record of each Confederate burial. So, in 1907, when the federal government was authorized to erect a marble headstone at each grave, it was possible to inscribe them with the soldier's name, company regiment and grave number. There are several monuments to the civil war dead, along with a grave locator available on site.