Cultural Landscape Report: Battleground National Cemetery

Commisso, Michael

Battleground National Cemetery, one of the smallest national cemeteries in the country, is located roughly five miles north of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC. The cemetery contains forty-one Union soldiers who fought at the nearby Battle of Fort Stevens, the only Civil War battle fought in the District of Columbia. Today, the cemetery includes four monuments honoring the Union soldiers who participated in the battle, the original superintendent’s lodge and rostrum, a central flagstaff, and a stone perimeter wall with an iron entrance gate. Battleground National Cemetery is significant under National Register Criterion A in the areas of military history and commemoration; Criterion C in the areas of landscape architecture and architecture; and Criterion D for its potential to reveal information related to its role in the Civil War. It also meets Criteria Consideration D (Cemeteries) as a primary memorial to the military history of the United States and Criteria Consideration F (Commemorative Properties) for its role in the memorialization and commemoration efforts carried out by Civil War veterans, citizens, and the federal government. The overall period of significance for Battleground National Cemetery is 1864 to the present. Under Criterion A and D, the period begins with the establishment of the cemetery in 1864 and extends to the present. The period of significance reflects the ongoing role and exceptional importance of national cemeteries as public places of commemoration and honor. Under Criterion C, the period of significance begins with the initial development of the cemetery in 1864, continues through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with the implementation of character-defining standardized landscape features, and ends with the construction of the rostrum in 1921. Despite retaining a high level of integrity, Battleground National Cemetery has lost much of its historic vegetation over the years and is currently inaccessible to people with mobility impairments. The primary focus of this cultural landscape report is to assist the park in addressing these and other issues in order to preserve and enhance the historic character of the cemetery.

Cultural Landscape Report: Battleground National Cemetery

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