Memphis National Cemetery

Description

Memphis National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the Nutbush neighborhood of the City of Memphis, in Shelby County, Tennessee. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses, and as of the end of 2007, had 42,184 interments.Several Civil War battlefield cemeteries were transferred to the Memphis National Cemetery after the war.HistoryCivil WarMemphis National Cemetery was originally established as Mississippi River National Cemetery when the Union Army forces took control of Memphis during the American Civil War. The cemetery served to inter veterans who died while in the many military hospitals in the delta region of the Mississippi River. After the war, several battlefield cemeteries were transferred to Memphis National Cemetery.In 1867, about 250 bodies of both Confederate and Union soldiers, some of whom were casualties of the Battle of Fort Pillow in Lauderdale County, were moved from a battlefield cemetery south of Fort Pillow to Memphis National Cemetery to be re-interred in a designated field.