Nearest city Port Hudson, Louisiana NRHP Reference # 99000591 Phone +1 225-654-1988 Added to NRHP 20 May 1999 | Architectural style Second Empire Area 8 ha Year built 1861 Burials Betty Heitman | |
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Location 20978 Port Hickey Rd., East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, U.S.A. MPS Civil War Era National Cemeteries MPS Address 20978 Port Hickey Rd, Zachary, LA 70791, USA | ||
Port hudson national cemetery memorial
Port Hudson National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Port Hudson, 20 miles (32 km) north of the city of Baton Rouge in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses 19.9 acres (8.1 ha), and as of the end of 2007, had 12,718 interments.
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History
The cemetery is located on the site which was the main battleground of the Siege of Port Hudson, during the American Civil War. Nearly 4,000 Union troops fell during the fighting, and most were buried in the cemetery, many as unknowns. After the war another 8.4 acres (3.4 ha) was appropriated to inter those who died in the local veterans' facilities. The battle was notable for valiant fighting by the 1st and 3rd Regiments of the Louisiana Native Guards, troops composed of free men of color from the New Orleans area and a majority of African Americans who had escaped from slavery to join the cause and gain freedom.
The Confederate soldiers who died were primarily buried in the trenches where they fell. A Confederate Cemetery was later established in the Port Hudson area; it is not accessible to the public.
The battlefield at Port Hudson is one of the few naturally preserved Civil War battlegrounds. The breastworks, gun pits, and trenches remain today almost as they were during the battle. The area has never been developed.
Port Hudson National Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999; a different portion of the battlefield, several miles to the north, is preserved in the Port Hudson State Historic Site. That area is designated a National Historic Landmark.