“Lebanon National Cemetery is located on the outskirts of the community of Lebanon in Marion County, Ky. In September 1861, Colonel John M. Harlan from Springfield, Ill., established Camp Crittenden at Lebanon and began recruiting the 10th Kentucky Infantry regiment. From November of that year, Lebanon had become the primary staging center for General George H. Thomas’ Mill Spring camp. The town remained an important Union supply depot during the Civil War, as well as a major center for Union hospitals. Even after the fighting moved south during the last two years of the war, at least one military hospital continued to operate in town. During the same period, Lebanon was a major recruiting camp for “colored troops.” Over 2,053 men were recruited, the overwhelming majority of whom had been slaves in the region.
Official records indicate the U.S. government first obtained the land for the cemetery in 1862, but it was not designated a national cemetery until 1867. The original interments were the scattered remains of Union soldiers from Lebanon and the surrounding countryside. There were 865 total original interments including 281 unknowns. The original triangular tract is bounded by a stonewall and it contains an 1870s lodge occupied by the superintendent and the remains of a rostrum.
In 1984, a donation of 3.4 acres brought the cemetery to 5.8 acres. An additional donation of 9 acres brought the cemetery to its current size. The cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.”
The following is from the US Department of Veterans Affairs:
“The Lebanon National Cemetery, established in 1867, is located one mile southeast of Lebanon, off Kentucky 208. The site is nearly triangular in shape and enclosed by a stone wall. The main entrance is located near the apex of the triangle and is protected by steel gates supported by stone piers which were constructed Circa 1870. Graves are marked with upright marble headstones.
The brick lodge with a stone foundation was constructed in 1870, with an addition in 1927. It was designed by Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs from the original standard plan for Civil War era national cemeteries. It is a one and one-half story brick structure, Second Empire design with an asphalt shingle mansard roof and dormer windows. The front porch has been enclosed with brick and jalousie windows. There is also a read porch.
There is a brick utility building containing public restrooms.
The 18 foot by 15 foot iron octagonal rostrum was constructed in 1932. The tin roof was removed in 1962.
Civil War Activity in Area:
After the Battle of Stones River in December 1862, General Braxton Bragg had ordered General John Hunt Morgan to raid the railroads in Kentucky and, if possible, threaten Louisville. Morgan wanted to invade Ohio, but Bragg refused his consent to this plan. Starting out on July 2, 1863, Morgan swept through Kentucky, crossed the Green River, captured Lebanon, and, on July 9, reached the banks of the Ohio.
Morgan was one of the most glamorous figures in the Confederacy. He had fought in the Mexican War and as early as 1857 had organized the Lexington (Kentucky) Rifles. Commissioned Captain in 1861, he began the series of raids that were very effective in disrupting Federal communications in the West.
On July 5, 1863, Morgan and his men moved on Lebanon. After a fight of seven hours, Morgan, finding the town could be taken in no other way, ordered a charge to be made. Morgan had said that he wished to avoid the destruction of private property as much as possible and that he would only permit a charge as a last and final resort. The enemy surrendered after several buildings had been burned. By this surrender, Morgan’s army obtained a sufficient quantity of guns to arm all men who were without them and a quantity of ammunition. At the order to charge, Tommy Morgan, who ran forward and cheered the men with great enthusiasm, fell back, pierced through the heart. This was a crushing blow to General Morgan, as his affection for his brother was great. It caused a terrible excitement, and the men were in a state of frenzy. It required the utmost energy and promptitude on the part of the officers to prevent a scene of slaughter.
At the end of the raid, superior forces converged on Morgan from all sides, and he was captured at New Lisbon, Ohio, and imprisoned in the state penitentiary at Columbus. On November 26, 1863, he and a handful of his men effected one of the spectacular escapes of the war. Morgan then was given command of the Department of Southwest Virginia, but was killed in September of the following year.”
The following is from the National register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form dated April 29, 1975 and prepared and submitted by Walter F. Blake, February 13, 1974:
“This cemetery is located southeast of the town of Lebanon, Marion County, Kentucky, in a predominantly agricultural area. The distance is approximately one mile from the city limits. Kentucky Highway 208 runs in front of the cemetery. The cemetery is approximately 1/2 mile from the junction of Kentucky 208 and U. S. Highway 68, at a right angle to the road.
The original plot of ground was selected, purchased and paid for by an office of the Quartermasters Department of the Army during the progress of the Civil War, as a burial place for U. S. soldiers. The original tract contained two acres. An additional strip containing three-eighths of an acre was purchased on the northeast side as a garden and site for the keeper's lodge. At present the cemetery includes 2.83 acres.
The cemetery lodge to the left of the entrance was built in 1870 with an addition in 1927. It is of brick with a stone foundation. It has two stories one of which is under a Mansard roof. Since 1956 the polychrome slate roof has been replaced with asphalt shingle and the front porch has been enclosed with brick and jalousie windows; however, the original stone trim and brick corner quoin of the building remain.
The cemetery is enclosed by a stone wall that is approximately 48 inches in height and 36 inches at the bottom tapering to 24 inches at the top. The original cost was $4.60 per lineal foot. A shallow work line drainage ditch around the wall has recently been filled in.
In addition to the lodge the old stable building still exists. This brick structure whose surface is divided by narrow brick pilaster strips has been remodeled and added to over the years. A new service building was added in 1971.
The majority of the trees in the cemetery are sugar and hard rock maple, which were either present or planted at the time the cemetery was started. There is one large Cedar of Lebanon (approximately 75 to 80 feet tall) that probably was planted in 1862.
The Lebanon National Cemetery is considered by historians of the Civil War one of the more important burial places in the State. By far the largest number of those interred there were among the Union dead who fell during the Battle of Perryville, which took place in nearby Boyle County. The battle, which occurred on October 8, 1863 is considered by many the turning point of the Civil War in Kentucky as it marked the last Confederate invasion into the State. After the battle, most of the Union dead were buried in a little cemetery near Perryville on the road to Springfield, county seat of adjacent Washington County; the Confederate dead are said to have been left on the field for the vultures. Provision for the acquisition of lands for use as national cemeteries was made in an act of February 22, 1867. (National cemeteries for soldiers and sailors originated in 1850, the army appropriation bill of that year provided money for a cemetery near Mexico City for the interment of the remains of soldiers killed in the Mexican War.) In 1867 the U. S. National Military Cemetery at Lebanon, Kentucky was formally established. At this time the Union dead from Perryville buried along the Springfield Pike were disinterred and reburied in the Lebanon National Cemetery and Camp Nelson National Cemetery near Nicholasville, Jessamine County, Kentucky.
Dr. J. F. McElroy in his History of Lebanon (published in 1910 but apparently based on earlier contemporary newspaper accounts), stated: "A cemetery for soldiers, was established in January 1863, about one mile south of town, where now lie the remains of 490 soldiers, besides a number that have been removed by their friends. All the graves have been neatly sodded and, painted boards bearing the name, company and regiment of the deceased placed at the head and foot. Several marble slabs have been placed there by friends, and a circle has been left on which the government designs erecting an appropriate monument. This central point is now occupied by a flagpole. Arrangements are now being made to erect a porter's lodge near the gate and place a man there to keep the cemetery in order." (Chapter XIV) Because of the reference to the as yet unbuilt porter's lodge, this item appears to date from before 1870. It was about this time that the original burials in the cemetery at Lebanon were disinterred and reburied in an orderly pattern radiating from the central feature. Also, the scattered and neglected Union dead from the following localities were disinterred and transferred to Lebanon: Lebanon and vicinity, Rolling Fork, Green River Bridge, Greensburg, New Market, Campbellsville, Salama, Neatville, the country within a radius of 50 miles or more from Lebanon. The original number of interments was 865. There is some question as to the actual number of original and present interments: 865 or 866 is the number usually given for the original group after the War, of which 283 were "unknown." With later burials, there are at the present time a total of 1768 interments at Lebanon, of which 277 are still unknown.”
Lebanon National Cemetery *** (added 1975 - Site - #75000801)
1 mi. SW of Lebanon off KY 208, Lebanon
Historic Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering
Architect, builder, or engineer: Unknown
Architectural Style: No Style Listed
Area of Significance: Architecture, Military
Period of Significance: 1850-1874
Owner: Federal
Historic Function: Funerary
Historic Sub-function: Cemetery
Current Function: Funerary
Current Sub-function: Cemetery
The cemetery is located at:
Lebanon National Cemetery
20 Highway 208
Lebanon, KY 40033
Sources Used:
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Credits:
Black and White Photos all by: Walter F. Blake circa 1965 - 1967