United States National Cemetery System
cemetery which is part of the system of national cemeteries in the United States
The United States National Cemetery System is a system of 173 military cemeteries in the United States and its territories. The authority to create military burial places came during the American Civil War, in an act passed by the U.S. Congress on July 17, 1862. By the end of 1862, 12 national cemeteries had been established. Two of the nation's most iconic military cemeteries, Arlington National Cemetery which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Army, and Gettysburg National Cemetery, under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, were established in 1864 and 1863, respectively.
National Cemetery Administration
The National Cemetery Administration of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) maintains 157 national cemeteries as well as the Nationwide Gravesite Locator, which can be used to find burial locations of American military Veterans through their searchable website. The Department of the Army maintains two national cemeteries, Arlington National Cemetery and United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery. The National Park Service (NPS) maintains 14 national cemeteries associated with historic sites and battlefields.
The American Battle Monuments Commission, an independent agency of the executive branch, established by Congress in 1923, maintains 26 American military cemeteries and other memorials outside the United States.
History
Twelve national cemeteries were established in 1862. A total of 34 were established during the Civil War from 1861 to 1865.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “United States National Cemetery System” as cemetery which is part of the system of national cemeteries in the United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as cemetery which is part of the system of national cemeteries in the United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1516659. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1862, 1864, 1863 and 1923.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “United States National Cemetery System”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow United States National Cemetery System primary sources, United States National Cemetery System archive and United research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “United States National Cemetery System” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.