National Cemetery Administration

Visitation Hours: Open daily from dawn to dusk.

Office Hours: Cemetery maintained by Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.

This cemetery has space available to accommodate casketed and cremated remains.

Burial in a national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces who have met a minimum active duty service requirement and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.

A Veteran's spouse, widow or widower, minor dependent children, and under certain conditions, unmarried adult children with disabilities may also be eligible for burial. Eligible spouses and children may be buried even if they predecease the Veteran.

Members of the reserve components of the armed forces who die while on active duty or who die while on training duty, or were eligible for retired pay, may also be eligible for burial.

» Eligibility for Burial in a VA National Cemetery

Fax all discharge documentation to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-866-900-6417 and follow-up with a phone call to 1-800-535-1117.

For information on scheduled burials in our national cemeteries, please go to the Daily Burial Schedule.

The Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery maintains this cemetery. Please contact Jefferson Barracks at the telephone number listed above.

For educational materials and additional information on this cemetery, please visit the Education section, located below.

Cemetery will not be used as a picnic grounds

Visitors will not litter the grounds, cut, break or injure trees, shrubs or plants or otherwise conduct themselves in a manner not in keeping with the dignity and the sacredness of the cemetery.

All graves will be decorated on the workday immediately preceding Memorial Day with small United States flags, which will be removed on the first workday after Memorial Day. Flags are not permitted on graves at any other time.

Cut flowers may be placed on graves at any time. Metal temporary flower containers are permitted. Floral items will be removed from graves as soon as they become faded and unsightly.

Artificial flowers may be placed on graves only during the period of Oct. 10 through April 15. Plantings, statues, vigil lights, glass objects of any nature and any other type of commemorative items are not permitted on graves at any time. Potted plants will be permitted on graves 10 days before through 10 days after Easter Sunday and Memorial Day.

During the Christmas season, Christmas wreaths, grave floral blankets and potted plants will be permitted commencing Dec. 1 and allowed to remain on the grave through Jan. 20. Grave floral blankets may not exceed two by three feet in size.

Mound City National Cemetery is located in Pulaski County, approximately one mile from Mound City, Ill. This area was the home of large naval shipyards that provided warships to the Union's Mississippi Squadron during the Civil War. The Mississippi Squadron was composed of 80 vessels including the famous ironclads USS Cairo, USS Cincinnati, and USS Mound City.

Mound City was also the site of a large Civil War hospital complex. Originally, the city's hotel and foundry were converted to hospitals to house both Union and Confederate wounded pouring into the city in the wake of battles at Shiloh, Vicksburg and elsewhere. In April 1862, the gunboat Mound City captured the steamer Red Rover, which had been used as a Confederate floating barracks. Union officials refitted the vessel as a hospital ship and assigned it to the U.S. Naval hospital at Mound City. The Red Rover sailed with the Mississippi Squadron in its engagements. Although the shipyards have largely vanished, one hospital building remains near the Ohio River levee.

In 1864, the federal government designated a plot of land near the general hospital to serve as a national cemetery. The original 1,644 interments at Mound City National Cemetery were men who had died there. Later interments would include casualties of battles at Cairo, Ill.; Belmont, Mo.; and Paducah, Ky. An 1871 report by the inspector of national cemeteries lists approximately 2,300 known service men interred at Mound City and over 2,400 unknowns.

Mound City National Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Monuments and Memorials
The Illinois State Soldiers and Sailors Monument is a marble and concrete construction honoring 2,637 unknown soldiers and sailors who lost their lives in defense of the country during the Civil War. It was erected in 1874 by the state of Illinois.