Oakwood Cemetery Essay

Richmond, being the capital of the Confederate States of American, was a central fighting ground during the civil war. In 1854, the city of Richmond opened Oakwood Cemetery as a public burial ground for the entire city and the Committee on Burying Grounds was put in charge of overseeing the administration and affairs of Oakwood and the other cemeteries in the area (1). When the war broke out, a lot of blood was shed on Richmond’s soil. Therefor, in 1861, the committee offered to have the cemetery opened on a greater scale specifically for confederate soldiers who had either died while in treatments at Chimborazo Hospital, a large hospital in Church Hill at the time, or had died in battle in Richmond or Henrico County (1). It was then that Oakwood got it’s name as the confederate cemetery of Richmond. As years went on, not only did the size of the cemetery continue to grow but controversy also started to surround the cemetery.
Within less then a year of opening, the cemetery had become the final resting place for about 600 people, 540 of which were confederate soldiers (2). In June of 1862, an article was published in the Richmond Dispatcher that named Oakwood, “the new and beautiful "city of the …show more content…
On the other hand, other cemeteries are not maintained nearly to the level Oakwood is due to lack of funs and concern. Despite effort to gentrify and urbanize the area around the cemetery, it is apparent that the Oakwood Cemetery still holds a sacred place in Richmond’s heart. The history of Oakwood will always be kept alive because no matter what, “the graves of the confederate dead will always be held green in [their] memory, and their deeds be hallowed in [their] recollection,” as so read on the plaque in the front of the