Alexandria National Cemetery (Alexandria, Louisiana)

Alexandria National Cemetery
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
File:Alexandria National Cemetery IMG 1110.JPG
Location	209 Shamrock Ave., Pineville, Louisiana
Coordinates
Area	8.2 acres (3.3 ha)
Built	1867
Architectural style	Colonial Revival
MPS	Civil War Era National Cemeteries MPS
NRHP Reference #	97000767
Added to NRHP	July 9, 1997

Alexandria National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of Pineville, in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It occupies approximately 8 acres (3.2 ha), and is site to 10,164 interments as of the end of 2005.

History

In 1867, an 8-acre (3.2 ha) plot was appropriated from a local resident to establish the Alexandria National Cemetery. It was originally intended as a place to bury Union soldiers who died in the area during the Civil War, but later, remains from Mount Pleasant, Cheneyville, Yellow Bayou, and Fort Brown, Texas, were re-interred in Alexandria. Of approximately 1378 Civil War burials, 507 are known and 871 are unknown.

Alexandria National Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Notable burials

• There are fifty-seven Buffalo Soldiers interred at the Alexandria National Cemetery.
• Retired Army Col. Thomas L. Gaines (1901-1989), director of Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant in Minden from 1961 to 1969
• Former U.S. Representative Gillis William Long
• Former Alexandria Mayor John K. Snyder is buried in the front row on the left side of the entrance road.
• Major Jacob Brown, for whom Fort Brown in Texas is named.
• John J. Williams (American Civil War), the last soldier killed in the American Civil War.
• Captain Ira W. Claflin

See also

• United States Department of Veterans Affairs

External links

• National Cemetery Administration
• Alexandria National Cemetery in Louisiana
• Alexandria National Cemetery at Find A Grave
• Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) No. LA-4, "Alexandria National Cemetery, 209 East Shamrock Street, Pineville, Rapides Parish, LA", 33 photos, 3 photo caption pages
• HALS No. LA-4-A, "Alexandria National Cemetery, Lodge", 7 data pages
• HALS No. LA-4-B, "Alexandria National Cemetery, Rostrum", 3 data pages