Burial at Camp Butler National Cemetery: A family guide

History of Camp Butler National Cemetery

Camp Butler National Cemetery is located in Sangamon County near Riverton, IL, and occupies a portion of what was the second-largest military training camp in Illinois during the Civil War.

Soon after the firing on Fort Sumter in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for troops to defend the Union. Each state struggled to fulfill the president's request but found the available men woefully unprepared for the rigors of war. The obvious solution, to federal officials, was to establish facilities for the receipt and training of war recruits. In 1861, the War Department dispatched General William Tecumseh Sherman to Springfield, IL, to select a site for a military training camp. Illinois Governor Richard Yates tasked the state treasurer, William Butler, with assisting the general. The men found an ideal location six miles outside of Springfield with a high ground for camping purposes and a lower, more-level area for drills and training, as well as space for a cemetery. General Sherman was pleased with the site and named it Camp Butler to honor his companion.

The first troops arrived at Camp Butler in August 1861 and by the end of the month, 5,000 men occupied the camp. As the war progressed, additional uses were found for the grounds, including a prisoner of war camp. In February 1862, approximately 2,000 Confederate soldiers captured when Fort Donelson was surrendered, arrived at Camp Butler. As the POWs arrived—from all 11 southern states except Florida—they were put to work constructing a stockade and hospital. The hastily constructed barracks were inadequate and poorly constructed. Sanitation facilities were primitive and the daily ration of food often consisted of little more than hard biscuits and a cup of thin coffee. Almost immediately, the POWs began to die at a rapid rate. The heat of the summer combined with the severe winter cold, as well as diseases such as smallpox, typhus and pneumonia, decimated the prisoner population. Roughly 700 POWs died in the smallpox epidemic of summer 1862.

Along with soldiers who fought for both the Union and Confederate sides during the Civil War, veterans who lost their lives in the Spanish-American War, the two World Wars, the Korea War and the Vietnam War are also buried at Camp Butler National Cemetery. Camp Butler was the final resting place of many remains returned from overseas following World War II. Camp Butler National Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Notable veterans buried at Camp Butler National Cemetery

The National Cemetery Administration documents the following veterans of note buried at Camp Butler National Cemetery, listed by section and site as recorded in the cemetery's official register.

• Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force that can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Recipients receive the Medal of Honor from the President on behalf of Congress. It was first awarded during the Civil War and the eligibility criteria, medal design, and recognition on a recipients' grave marker have all evolved over time. There are 434 Medal of Honor recipients interred at VA national cemeteries including 6 double recipients.
• » Medal of Honor recipients interred or memorialized here:
• Seaman John H. Catherwood, (Philippines, 1911). He received the Medal of Honor while serving in the U.S. Navy, for actions while attached to the U.S.S. Pampanga on the island of Basilan, Philippine Islands, on September 24. Catherwood died in 1930 and is buried in Section F, Site 1.
• Other Burials George W. Ford was a career national cemetery superintendent and civil rights activist whose headstone at Camp Butler National Cemetery, IL, reads "Supt. of this cemetery for 24 years," reveals nothing of his remarkable life. Born a free black in 1847, he became one of the first African Americans appointed as a national cemetery superintendent, a career that spanned over a half century. Ford left his cemetery post once, to fight in the Spanish-American War. Major Ford went to Cuba with the 23rd Kansas Volunteers, commanded by Teddy Roosevelt. As a result he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1899, where Roosevelt was nominated as vice president. In 1905, Ford lobbied for civil rights as a charter member of the Niagara Movement. He died on June 20, 1939, and is buried in Camp Butler National Cemetery (Section 3, Site 869).
• Otis Beverly Duncan was born on November 18, 1873, in Springfield, IL. His grandfather, William Fleurville, was President Abraham Lincoln's barber and honorary pallbearer at his funeral. The false arrest of his grandson, Duncan's cousin, helped spark the Springfield Race Riot of 1908, which in turn led to the establishment of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Duncan worked for the Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction, and he joined the National Guard in 1902. He served with the 8th Illinois during the 1916 Mexican Border conflict and the 370th Infantry (8th IL) during World War I. At the war's end, Lt. Col. Duncan was the American Expeditionary Forces' highest-ranking African-American officer and he received the French Croix de Guerre. Back in Springfield, he became commanding officer of the 8th Illinois National Guard and the American Legion Post is named for him. Duncan died May 17, 1937, and is buried in Camp Butler National Cemetery (Section 3, Site 835).
• Seaman 1st Class George Laws (World War II). George Edward Laws (1926–2011) was born in Springfield, IL, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy on June 1, 1943. He was serving aboard the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) when it was struck by torpedoes fired from a Japanese submarine on July 30, 1945. Laws was blown into the air and slammed onto the ship's deck before falling into the ocean. He soon found himself covered in fuel and tried to stay together with other survivors as they awaited rescue. Unaware that the Navy did not know of the torpedoing, Laws and his companions drifted for nearly five days, with many sailors perishing from exposure, dehydration, and shark attacks. When rescued, Laws was one of only 316 men who would survive the sinking, out of an original crew of 1,195. After the war, George got married, started a family, and worked for General Motors. He died five days before his 85th birthday and is interred in Section CREME, Site 293.

Eligibility for burial at Camp Butler National Cemetery

Planning ahead for a Veteran's or loved-one's final resting place can eliminate unnecessary delays and reduce stress on a family at a difficult time.

The Department of Veterans Affairs covers the grave plot, opening and closing of the grave, perpetual care, a government-furnished headstone or marker, and a U.S. burial flag at no cost to eligible families.

Visiting hours

Visitation Hours: Open daily from 7:30 a.m. to sunset. Office Hours: Monday thru Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Closed federal holidays except Memorial Day. VA will continue its practice of honoring special requests for weekend burials for religious purposes, in cases of service members killed in action and on at least one day of any three-day Federal holiday weekend at all open VA national cemeteries.

How to schedule a burial at Camp Butler National Cemetery

1. The funeral home or family contacts the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-800-535-1117 (24/7 for active funeral arrangements).
2. Provide the veteran's full name, date of birth, social security number, dates of service, branch, and date of death.
3. Fax or email the DD-214 to the cemetery's interment office for verification.
4. Once eligibility is confirmed (typically 30–60 minutes for complete documentation), the cemetery assigns a date, time, and committal shelter.
5. The funeral home transports the deceased to Camp Butler National Cemetery at the assigned time. The cemetery handles opening, closing, and perpetual care from that point.

Where Camp Butler National Cemetery sits in the Illinois cemetery system

Camp Butler National Cemetery is one of the veteran cemeteries operating in Illinois. The cemetery is currently accepting new in-ground and columbarium interments. Families should verify status before planning.

For families considering alternatives, the nearest veteran cemeteries appear in our cemetery sidebar. If Camp Butler National Cemetery is fully reserved, those alternatives are typically the next options.