National Cemeteries at Crown Hill

Crown Hill National Cemetery

*The National Cemetery was established in 1866 and has veterans from the American Revolution to the Vietnam War.*

The Crown Hill National Cemetery (Section 10, located behind the Gothic Chapel), is a result of the American Civil War. Prior to the Civil War, burial of the war dead was the responsibility of the Army’s Office of the Quartermaster General, which also provided food, shelter, and supplies to the soldiers. This changed in September 1861, when the United States War Department issued General Orders No. 75, which gave the responsibility for the burial of the dead from their units to US Army commanding officers. Because the locations of most battles were in rural areas of the nation, soldiers often received hasty burials in shallow graves in nearby farm fields. Commanding officers were also required to keep records of deceased soldiers and burial site locations. This proved difficult because few soldiers had any form of identification on them; dog tags did not become standard until the 20th century. This, coupled with the fact that the cemeteries in the nation could not handle the estimated 600,000 dead, led to the creation of National Cemeteries.

About a dozen national cemeteries were established in 1862. Crown Hill’s National Cemetery would not be created until 1866, when the government paid $5,000 for a 1.4-acre section within Crown Hill after years of requests by Governor Oliver Morton (and eventually US Senator, who is buried near the National Cemetery) secured the creation.

*Soldiers in the National Cemetery for a Memorial Day ceremony in the 1910s.*

More than 700 Union soldiers, who had been originally buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in downtown Indianapolis, were moved into the newly established Crown Hill National Cemetery in October 1866. The federal government hired local undertaker William Weaver (also buried in Crown Hill Cemetery) to supervise their transfer. Weaver’s men relocated the remains of 712 soldiers; among those buried are 217 United States Colored Troop soldiers.

On May 30, 1868, the first Decoration (Memorial) Day observance was held at Crown Hill National Cemetery.

In 2011, Section 9 (the land adjacent to the National Cemetery) and Section 10 were donated back to the federal government, covering approximately 2.67 acres with the remains of 2,097 veterans and their dependents. While the vast majority (74%) are Civil War Union soldiers, there are veterans from multiple wars from the Revolutionary War to Vietnam in these two sections. The last burial made in the National Cemetery was for Vietnam Air Force pilot, Major Robert W. Hayes. The Crown Hill National Cemetery is officially closed. In 2019, the federal government purchased 15 acres of land from Crown Hill to develop an annex to the National Cemetery. It is located north of the Community Mausoleum and is designed for cremated remains only.

View the VA’s interpretative historical sign on the Crown Hill National Cemetery here.

The Confederate Mound (Section 32)

*Prisoners from Civil War Camp Morton had originally been buried in the Greenlawn Cemetery complex in downtown Indianapolis. They were disinterred and moved to Crown Hill in the 1930s.*

The “Confederate Mound,” Crown Hill’s second National Cemetery, is located on the north side of Section 32. It is the final resting place of 1,616 Confederate prisoners of war. They died while confined at Camp Morton from 1862-65. Camp Morton was a former Union Army Training Camp on the site of the old fairgrounds near 1900 North Alabama Street.

In February 1862, the Confederate Fort Donelson surrendered, giving the Union Army 15,000 prisoners of war — and no place to house them. Indiana offered to take 3,000 prisoners at Camp Morton. By the time the camp closed in 1865, thousands of prisoners had died. They had originally been buried in the City Cemetery (part of the Greenlawn Cemetery complex) in downtown Indianapolis. Moved once with the Greenlawn Complex, the bodies were moved again in 1931 to Crown Hill Cemetery.

In the 1990s, Indianapolis police officers, Steve Staletovich and Wayne Sharp, led a two-year project to identify these Confederate veterans. As a result, 10 bronze plaques mounted on granite bases were placed at the site.

View the VA’s interpretative historical sign on the Confederate Mound here.

Grouped Veteran Sections

Section 28 and the Field of Valor (Section 213)
In 1991, Crown Hill Cemetery opened Section 28, situated diagonally from the National Cemetery, as a military section. The Field of Valor section and mausoleum (Section 213) were dedicated on Veterans Day 2004. Located on the north grounds just west of the Community Mausoleum, the Field of Valor contains a community mausoleum, ground burials, Eagle Plaza, and an Eternal Flame. The “Field of Valor” honors the sacrifice and service of our community’s veterans. Beyond being a beautiful and personalized resting place for our military heroes, the Field of Valor is a place for the entire community to honor the sacrifices made by our military personnel.

*Field of Valor was established with a community mausoleum, ground burials, Eagle Plaza, and an Eternal Flame.*

Heroes of Public Safety (Section 93)

While the section was created to honor line of duty officers, many of the men and women buried there were also veterans. The events of September 11 and the death of Officer Jason Baker prompted the creation of this unique memorial that would remember fallen heroes among public safety personnel locally, statewide, and nationally. The Heroes of Public Safety Memorial marks the entrance to this section and consists of a granite slab walk that leads to a Romanesque monument.