The United States National Cemetery System is a system of 164 military cemeteries in the United States and its territories. The authority to create military burial places came during the American Civil War , in an act passed by the U.S. Congress on July 17, 1862. By the end of 1862, 12 national cemeteries had been established. Two of the nation's most iconic military cemeteries, Arlington National Cemetery which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Army, and Gettysburg National Cemetery , under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service , were established in 1864 and 1863, respectively.
6-692: Fort Lyon National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located near the city of Las Animas in Bent County, Colorado . It encompasses 51.9 acres (21.0 hectares) and as of 2014 had 2,556 interments. It is administered by the Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver County, Colorado . Named for the first Union General to die in the Civil War , Nathaniel Lyon , the cemetery was established as part of Fort Lyon
12-506: The Army maintains two national cemeteries, Arlington National Cemetery and United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery . The National Park Service (NPS) maintains 14 national cemeteries associated with historic sites and battlefields. The American Battle Monuments Commission , an independent agency of the executive branch, established by Congress in 1923, maintains 26 American military cemeteries and other memorials outside
18-860: The United States. Twelve national cemeteries were established in 1862. A total of 34 were established during the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. Additional cemeteries were set up after the United States Civil War by Edmund Burke Whitman . Congress passed additional laws to establish and protect national cemeteries in 1867. The National Cemetery Administration lists a total of 73 Civil War-Era National Cemeteries from 1861 to 1868. Final military honors are provided for qualified Veterans by volunteer veteran or National Guard details known as Memorial Honor Details (MHD), upon application by family members through their choice of mortuary handling
24-480: The deceased. *Please note that the year listed is the official date of establishment listed by the VA. This may differ from the year of the first burial, the oldest remains, the year the land was acquired, etc. Many post cemeteries have been given national cemetery status as late as 2020, which is considerably later than the original cemetery. For example, Vancouver Barracks post cemetery was established in 1849 and became
30-651: The first time in 1887. The fort was abandoned in 1897 and the remains buried in the cemetery were transferred to Fort McPherson National Cemetery in Nebraska . In 1906 the fort buildings were converted into a sanitarium to treat soldiers and prisoners of war with tuberculosis , and burials began in 1907. The cemetery was transferred to the National Cemetery system in 1973 to be managed by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs . It
36-656: Was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. [REDACTED] Media related to Fort Lyon National Cemetery at Wikimedia Commons United States National Cemetery The National Cemetery Administration of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) maintains 148 national cemeteries as well as the Nationwide Grave-site Locator , which can be used to find burial locations of American military Veterans through their searchable website. The Department of
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