Cemetery Page--Lists of Civil War Vets & More

Northwest Pennsylvania sent thousands of its young men to fight for the preservation of the Union and to eradicate the stain of slavery from our nation.  For decades following the war, area soldiers organized into Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) posts to help preserve the legacy and political gains won by Northern soldiers and armies during the war.  Hundreds of G.A.R posts were established in almost every city, town, and hamlet throughout Pennsylvania for this purpose. On May 30, 1868 General John A. Logan of the G.A.R. called for annual observances to be held to honor those who died "in defense of their country during the late rebellion." That year, 5,000 participants helped to honor 20,000 soldiers' graves in Arlington Cemetery. Known in the late 19th century as "Decoration Day," for decades mourners went to local cemeteries across the nation to lay flowers upon the graves of fallen Civil War soldiers.

Erie Cemetery Civil War

Unknown Soldier's Memorial

Often, memorials were constructed to honor those soldiers whose identities and fates were unknown to loving relatives back home. Following World War I, the practice of honoring the fallen soldiers of all American wars became the national custom. "Decoration Day" thus was officially replaced by Memorial Day. In 1971 Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday in May. 

During the decades of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, G.A.R. posts and their affiliated Ladies' Auxiliaries continued to honor the soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic and tirelessly worked to ensure that the social and political achievements won on so any battlefields were permanently codified into American law and culture. Slowly, as the members of the G.A.R. either died or grew too old to continue this mission, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) was established to continue their mission. [For more information or to join in this group's mission today, visit the SUVCW tab here.] 

The SUVCW continues to honor our nation's civil war legacy by ensuring all Union soldier's graves are decorated with an appropriate marker and flag each Memorial Day,  by holding 'Silent Sentinel' ceremonies for designated Civil War heroes, by cleaning and restoring the monuments and gravestones of Union soldiers, identifying and holding ceremonies honoring the last surviving veteran in each county in the state, and by assisting the descendants of Civil War veterans in tracing their lineage to such veterans. One way to do this is to identify and publicize the graves of civil war veterans in local cemeteries. 

Toward this end, the following links are provided.

--The SUVCW National Database of Civil War Soldiers.  
--National Park Service Records of Civil War Soldiers Database
--Lists & Hyperlinks to NW PA Cemeteries 
--Erie Cemetery May 30, 2019 Program to honor Civil War heroes PPT
--List of Civil War veterans interred in the Cory Cemetery
--List of Civil War veterans interred in the Erie Cemetery. 
--List of Civil War veterans interred at Erie's Soldiers' and Sailors'  Home Cemetery. (needed)
--List of Civil War veterans interred in the Springfield Cemetery (needed) 

PA Civil War Soldiers' 3x5 Notecard database of information [Originally compiled as to serve as an index to Samuel Bates' history of Pennsylvanians in the Civil War the cards were expanded to include information from regimental muster rolls, a physical description of the soldier, dates of service, and much more.]

List of area deceased Civil War veterans to be honored by G.A.R. units published in the Erie Times Dispatch of May 25, 1910.