Cave Hill National Cemetery

Cave Hill National Cemetery is a VA national cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. VA lists it as closed to new burials. Burial is free for eligible veterans, their spouses and dependent children.

Source: National Cemetery Administration (cem.va.gov), retrieved May 2026

History of Cave Hill National Cemetery

Cave Hill National Cemetery is located in the northwest corner of Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, KY. The original 0.65-acre site was donated by the Cave Hill Cemetery Co. in 1861 for the burials of Union soldiers who died in service. Additional acreage was added in 1863, 1864, 1867 and 1897 through donation and purchase.

While the site was officially established as a national cemetery in 1863, the first interment occurred in November 1861. The initial burials were soldiers who had died at camps and hospitals in the Louisville area. In spring 1867, 732 remains gathered from various points along the Louisville and Nashville Railroad were interred at Cave Hill, primarily in section D. Interments include African-American U.S. Colored Troops and soldiers of the Confederate army.

In 1867, the United States purchased an additional 0.22 acres around the corner from the cemetery as the site for a superintendent's lodge built in the Second Empire style, based on drawings by Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs. Although the U.S. Army sold the lodge in 1940, it remains extant on Baxter Avenue.

Historically, Memorial Day and other commemorative events centered around a raised rostrum where officials and speakers sat. A picturesque stone rostrum with a dozen Doric columns was erected next to the pond here in 1898. Cast-iron tablets with portions of verse from poem "Bivouac of the Dead," erected in the 1880s, are scattered throughout the burial sections. A cast-iron Gettysburg Address plaque was installed in 2009; it is a replica of the version placed in national cemeteries about 1909.

The larger, private Cave Hill Cemetery has been the pre-eminent burial ground in Louisville since it was dedicated in 1848, and it remains a premier example of Rural style cemetery design in the United States. The site's natural rock outcroppings and hilly topography have been complemented with ponds, statuary, and architecturally elegant tombs. More than 500 kinds of trees and garden plantings are maintained in this naturalistic oasis.

Cave Hill National Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. Cave Hill Cemetery was listed in 1979, and it remains an active burial business.

Monuments & Memorials The Unknown Soldiers Monument, a rustic boulder marked with a plaque, was erected in the corner of Section D in 1914.

Eleven soldiers of the 32nd Indiana Infantry, a regiment entirely comprised of German-Americans, are interred in Section C. The troops perished in The Battle of Rowlett's Station, Kentucky on December 17, 1861, and were originally buried near the battlefield. While the regiment bivouacked in the area after the battle, Private August Bloedner carved an upright monument to mark their graves, bearing a carved American eagle and the following inscription in German:

Here lie men of the 32nd First German Indiana Regiment sacrificed for the free Institutions of the Republic of the United States of North America.

They fell on 17 Dec. 1861, in an Encounter at Rowlett Station, in which 1 Regiment of Texas Rangers, 2 Regiments of Infantry, and 6 Rebel Cannons, in all over 3000 Men, were defeated by 500 German Soldiers.

The state of Kentucky recognized the sacrifice of these men by purchasing the ground in which they were buried. In 1867, with the approval of Indiana's governor, the remains of the soldiers and the monument were moved to Cave Hill National Cemetery. The 32nd Indiana Infantry Monument was subsequently mounted on a new base contributed by Louisville's German citizens.

The 32nd Indiana Infantry Monument is the oldest Civil War monument. Carved from a local limestone outcrop, by the 1950s the monument was showing signs of deterioration. By the early 2000s approximately 50 percent of the inscription was lost. To preserve the monument, in late 2008 NCA moved it to an indoor facility where it received professional conservation. In summer 2010, NCA relocated the 32nd Indiana Infantry Monument to the Frazier History Museum in downtown Louisville for public display.

To continue to honor the men of the 32nd Indiana Infantry buried in Cave Hill National Cemetery, NCA commissioned a successor monument. Hand-carved from durable Indiana limestone by the John Stevens Shop, the new monument dedicated in 2011 is the same size and form as the original, but it features a translation of the German inscription on the back.

Learn more about the 32nd Indiana Infantry Monument and its conservation and replacement.

Directions

From Louisville Standiford Field, take Interstate 65 north to Broadway (east) exit. Turn on Baxter Avenue to cemetery entrance. Cemetery is located in the confines of the Cave Hill Cemetery.

Flowers and grounds rules

Cemetery policies are conspicuously posted and readily visible to the public.

Floral arrangements accompanying the casket or urn at the time of burial will be placed on the completed grave. Natural cut flowers may be placed on graves at any time of the year. They will be removed when they become unsightly or when it becomes necessary to facilitate cemetery operations such as mowing.

Education and visiting programs

More than half of VA's national cemeteries originated with the Civil War and many are closed to some burials. Other sites were established to serve World War veterans and they continue to expand. Historic themes related with NCA's cemeteries and soldiers' lots vary, but visitors should understand "Why is it here?" NCA began by installing interpretive signs, or waysides, at more than 100 properties to observe the Civil War Sesquicentennial (2011–2015). Please follow the links below to see the interpretive signs for Cave Hill National Cemetery.

A National Cemetery System Cave Hill National Cemetery

Who can be buried at Cave Hill National Cemetery?

VA national cemeteries accept a veteran who didn't receive a dishonorable discharge, a service member who died on active duty or in training, the veteran's spouse or surviving spouse (even if they remarried), and minor or, in some cases, unmarried adult dependent children. National Guard and Reserve members qualify under narrower rules. You can ask VA for a pre-need eligibility decision in advance; it does not reserve a gravesite.

What does burial here include at no cost?

• A gravesite in any VA national cemetery with available space
• Opening and closing of the grave
• A government-provided burial liner
• A government-provided headstone or marker
• Perpetual care of the gravesite

Veterans also receive a burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate (presented to the next of kin at the burial) and military funeral honors, which include the playing of Taps and two uniformed service members who present the flag. The committal service is held at a committal shelter, not at the grave, and lasts about 20 minutes. National cemeteries have no viewing facilities, so the funeral itself is held elsewhere.

How do you schedule a burial at Cave Hill National Cemetery?

1. Gather the veteran's DD214 or other discharge papers, and the deceased's details (Social Security number, dates of birth and death, relationship to the veteran).
2. Fax the discharge papers to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 866-900-6417, or email them to [email protected] with the deceased's name in the subject line.
3. You or the funeral director call 800-535-1117 (Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET) to request Cave Hill National Cemetery and a date. National cemeteries hold burials Monday through Friday.

VA lists Cave Hill National Cemetery as closed. Ask the scheduling office what, if anything, can still be arranged here, and about open national cemeteries nearby.

Where is the Cave Hill National Cemetery burial schedule?

VA posts a daily burial schedule for every national cemetery. Search it for Cave Hill National Cemetery to see the committal services planned there. It only lists burials whose families agreed to publish them. To change or cancel a burial that's already scheduled, contact Cave Hill National Cemetery directly at 502-893-3852.

Headstone, flag and burial allowance

• Government headstone or marker: tell the scheduling office which headstone, marker, niche cover or medallion you want when you schedule the burial.
• Burial flag: VA Form 27-2008.
• Burial allowance: For a non-service-connected death on or after October 1, 2026, VA pays up to $1,032 toward burial and funeral costs and $1,032 for a plot; for a service-connected death on or after September 11, 2001, the burial allowance is up to $2,000. Claim it with VA Form 21P-530EZ. All benefits

After the funeral: survivor benefits and the estate

A surviving spouse, child or parent may qualify for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), a tax-free monthly VA benefit, for example when the death was service connected (VA Form 21P-534EZ). The veteran's estate is settled under Kentucky law; our sister site ProbateUS explains how probate works in Kentucky and lists each county's probate court. For the rest of the paperwork, from Social Security to bank accounts, DeathUS has a step-by-step checklist of what to do when someone dies.

Nearest cemeteries

The three veterans cemeteries closest to Cave Hill National Cemetery, by straight-line distance:

• Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, Louisville, KY: 5 mi, closed to new in-ground burials
• New Albany National Cemetery, New Albany, IN: 6 mi, status not listed
• Kentucky Veterans Cemetery - Central, Radcliff, KY: 29 mi, open for burials