Finns Point National Cemetery was officially designated as a national
cemetery in 1875 by the United States government. The fact that Union
and Confederate soldiers who died during the American Civil War are buried
within the confines of the same national cemetery, albeit in separate sections,
makes Finns Point somewhat unique. Arlington National Cemetery does have a
Confederate Circle and Philadelphia National Cemetery encloses a separate
Confederate section. More typical are the separate national cemeteries
for Confederates at Camp Chase, Elmira, Point Lookout, and Johnson’s Island.
Created during the Civil War, these separate cemeteries were designated as
national cemeteries and reserved exclusively for the Confederate soldiers and
sailors who died while prisoners of war.
Completed in 1877, Finns Point National Cemetery was enhanced and improved in response to the urging of Governor James L. Kemper of Virginia. Governor Kemper had been a brigade commander under Major General George E. Pickett in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and was wounded in action at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. Many of Kemper’s Virginians were sent to Fort Delaware during the war and those who died there were buried at Finns Point.
United States Adjutant General E. D. Townsend wrote to
Governor Kemper in 1875: "Most of the bodies of the Confederate
prisoners of war who died at Fort Delaware are interred in the soldier’s
burial ground at Finns Point on the New Jersey shore, opposite to the fort,
which is enclosed by an Osage-orange hedge, and while not in as good [an] order
as might be desired, is reported as presenting a more respectable appearance
than many country church-yards." Nevertheless, the United States
War Department removed the few Union and Confederate remains to be found still
on Pea Patch Island and placed them inside the newly designated national
cemetery. A superintendent was appointed who proceeded to improve the
grounds creating much of what a visitor sees today including the Meigs
lodge for the superintendent.
The remains of 135 of the Union guards who died while on
duty at Fort Delaware are interred in a separate section to the front of the
cemetery. Union remains buried at Finns Point during the war were placed
in individual graves. Sadly, these are now unmarked. A monument to these
Union guards was erected in 1879 listing 105 names and noting that 30 others
could not be identified. The Grecian style columned cupola over the
smaller obelisk seen today was added in 1936.
As a further gesture of reconciliation following the
successful conclusion of the war against Spain to which the former Confederate
states contributed significant support, the United States government in 1910
authorized the erection of an 85 foot tall obelisk memorializing the
Confederates buried at Finns Point. The obelisk was constructed with
reinforced concrete at its core and was covered with slabs of Pennsylvania white
granite. Bronze memorial plates surrounding its base contain the names of
2,436 Confederate prisoners of war known at the time to have died at Fort
Delaware.
Continuing research into the National Archives records by
Fort Delaware Society archivists has produced the names of an additional 500
Confederate prisoners who died during their captivity at Fort Delaware.
Based upon Adjutant General Townsend’s statement to Governor Kemper in 1875
and the lack of any records to the contrary, many of these Confederates were
also buried at Finns Point. Society archivist Jocelyn P. Jamison compiled
the names of 2,925 Confederate prisoners of war, 109 Union guards [26 others are
still unknown], and 39 civilian detainees along with additional personal data on
each. This information has been published under the title "They
Died at Fort Delaware 1861 - 1865" by the Fort Delaware
Society in June 1997. A
copy can be obtained from the Society for $8.00 plus postage.
Finns Point National Cemetery continued in active use as a burial site for members of the Coastal Artillery garrison at nearby Fort Mott through the end of World War I. It is in active use today for American service veterans of all wars, but burials are now limited to cremains. The cemetery is operated and maintained under the direction of the Department of Veterans Affairs. For more information and specific data on all burials at Finns Point, write to the Director, Beverly National Cemetery, Department of Veterans Affairs, Beverly, New Jersey 08010 or call (609) 877-5460. Beverly National Cemetery
Copyright © 2001, Terry Muse
