Danville Cemeteries

Danville Cemeteries. National Cemetery. , The remains of 1,323 Federal soldiers, 148 of them unknown, who died in Danville’s Civil War prisons are interred here. Many died from smallpox which ravaged the six prisons during the winter of 1863-1864., The names of the dead were recorded by the rector of the Episcopal church, Dr. George Washington Dame, and turned over to Federal authorities when the city was occupied by Gen. Horatio Wright’s Sixth Corps in April 1865. Dr. Dame served as Danville’s military chaplain during the Civil War., The site, originally part of a Danville city cemetery, was officially established as the Danville National Cemetery on August 14, 1887., Freedman’s Cemetery – This cemetery, originally set aside as part of Green Hill, occupies some 11 acres. It was established in 1872 and was intended, as the name implies, for recently freed slaves and other African-American citizens., Green Hill Cemetery – More than 450 Confederate veterans are buried here, most of whom died after the war. The plots, lanes, and roadways were designed by Confederate engineer, Capt. E.T.D. Myers, who was in Danville during the war supervising construction of the railroad to Greensboro, North Carolina. The cemetery is named for Dr. Nathaniel T. Green. The original 45 acres were purchased as a town cemetery from his estate in 1863. The northeast corner of the property, where all the Union soldiers were buried, was taken by the Federal government after the war and is now the National Cemetery.