Marker at Old Civil War Cemetery near downtown Jeffersonville

Close-up of Civil War Cemetery (transcript below)

The old Civil War Cemetery near present-day downtown Jeffersonville was located on what is now Mulberry Street (about 2 blocks south of the Hardee's on Court Street). The cemetery is located on what is now a children's playground behind Rosehill Elementary School.

According to the above monument, the Union and Confederate dead buried here were NOT exhumed; however, I have been advised by someone who has studied this situation that the bodies were, indeed, moved to Walnut Ridge Cemetery. This has not been confirmed, but bears investigation.

There stands today (1997) a large stone marker adjacent to the fence around the playground with the following inscription:

"On this site, 1861-1865, are buried several hundred Union and Confederate soldiers, killed in the Western campaign. Lack of interest from distant families allowed deterioration of the wood grave markers and heavy overgrowth. In 1927, the Jeffersonville Council determined, 'Better the sound of children's footsteps at play than the silent stride of the nearly forgotten great spirit army here at rest.' The only intact stone marker was moved to Walnut Ridge Cemetery. No bodies were exhumed."

"Presented by Frank R. Kossa, Col. (Ret.) USAR, on behalf of Lawrence Capehart Post 35, The American Legion, Joseph M. Bittner Post 1832, Veterans of Foreign Wars."

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Jeffersonville Twp. Library     or      Charlestown Library

211 East Court Avenue                   51 Clark Road

Jeffersonville, Indiana 47130           Charlestown, Indiana  47111

Telephone:  (812) 285-5635              Telephone:  (812) 256-3337