Oakland Cemetery Confederate Memorial Obelisk - Atlanta, GA
N 33° 44.875 W 084° 22.327
16S E 743426 N 3737308
A large portion of the grounds is home to memorials to and graves of Confederate Soldiers.
Waymark Code: WM5BY9
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 12/15/2008
Views: 21
This section is the final resting place for approximately 6,900 Confederate soldiers including 3,000 unknowns. Through much of the Civil War, Atlanta hospitals overflowed with men wounded in battles to the north. The largest cluster of wartime hospitals was within half a mile of the cemetery. As fighting moved closer to Atlanta and deaths mounted. Land adjacent to the Cemetery was secured as a Confederate burial ground. After the war, several thousand soldiers who had fallen in the Atlanta campaign were moved from battlefield graves to Oakland.
Approaching this area from the main gate, the Confederate Obelisk provides an orienting landmark. The 65-foot monument, made of Stone Mountain granite, was dedicated in 1874 as a project of the Atlanta Ladies Memorial Association. For years it was the tallest structure in the city.
Marked military graves occupy a large central rectangle south of the Obelisk. Included are the headstones of 16 Union soldiers who died in local hospitals. Another area of marked Confederate graves lies along Oakland’s southern wall. Northeast of the Obelisk, the unknowns are guarded by the “Lion of Atlanta.” Modeled after the Swiss “Lion of Lucerne.” The Lion was carved in 1894 from the largest block of marble quarried in Georgia up to that time. For the nameless soldiers, the dying lion rests on the flag they followed and “guards their dust,” in the words of a commemorative poem.
To the northwest of the obelisk, three Confederate generals are buried: John Brown Gordon; Alfred Iverson, Jr.; Clement Anselm Evans. Generals Lucius Gartrell and William Stephen Walker are buried on family plots.
An annual memorial service takes place in this section on Confederate Memorial Day, April 26th.
Date Created/Placed: 1874
Height: 40
Illuminated: no
Address: Not listed
Website: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Give a narrative of your experience. What did you think of the obelisk? Did you learn anything? Photos are always welcome too. Please no virtual visits.